Gilles Muller sweeps past Richard Gasquet into round of four – Moselle Open 2011
Sheer surprise struck the French tennis fans present at the Arenes de Metz, in Metz, France, as the home favourite, Richard Gasquet, was overrun by the world number 49, Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, in the quarterfinal of the Moselle
Open on Friday night.
The world number 15 suffered a humiliating defeat in straight sets 3-6, 4-6, to let Muller into the semi-final draws of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 tournament. The eighth seeded Luxembourger competitor
took just 71 minutes of play to out play the second seeded Gasquet from the competition with the utmost ease.
Muller eventually avenged his defeat from the Frenchman, who outplayed him in the round of 32 of the Wimbledon Championships way back in 2005. It was the 16th victory for the Luxembourger in the current ATP season, sending
him into his first World Tour-level semi-final.
Gasquet stepped into the quarter-final matchup as the hot favourite for winning but was absolutely manhandled by Muller. The second seed utterly failed to register a single serve break in the entire matchup, squandering away six
vital break points to let Muller fly away with an emphatic victory.
The eighth seed adopted an aggressive strategy right from the beginning and cashed in most of his opportunities in the matchup. Muller cracked in 11 thudding aces in the contest and dropped just six points on his serve, reeling
28 out of 34. His agile footwork held the key to his success in the competition and he launched frequent forays to the net to convert juicy volleys into elegant cross-court winners, finishing the match in straight sets. Muller faced no real challenge from
Gasquet throughout the competition and raced through the sets keeping the games short and professional to enter the semi-final rounds.
“I probably played today the best match of the week,” the excited Muller told the press reporters after winning. “I had an unbelievable first set. Things got a bit complicated in the second, I may have lost my concentration a bit
but I was happy to be able to finish in two sets.”
Muller will go one-on-one with the former world number three, Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, in the semi-final clash of the Moselle Open on Saturday night. The eighth seed Ljubicic dumped the Dutch qualifier, Igor Sijsling, in the round
of eight, booking a date with Muller to fight for a place in the semi-final of the tournament.
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