Gilles Müller Upsets Rafael Nadal in Wimbledon Marathon

Gilles Müller, the No. 16 seed from Luxembourg, reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time by defeating Rafael Nadal in five sets. CreditMatthew Childs/Reuters

WIMBLEDON, England — Just minutes before he walked onto Court No. 1 on Monday afternoon, Rafael Nadal did one of his famed squat jumps to begin his warm-up, but he appeared to graze the top of his head on a door frame.

Nadal laughed it off, and his opponent, Gilles Müller, looked back in surprise and also laughed at the energetic Spaniard’s antics. It would be nearly five hours until Müller would smile again.

Müller ousted Nadal in a marathon fifth set, took off his hat, smiled almost sheepishly, and waved to the crowd after the best win of his career and the longest match of this Wimbledon.

Müller, the No. 16 seed from Luxembourg, scored his only victory against Nadal a dozen years ago at this tournament. He won the first two sets on Monday and might have been destined for an easy victory. It was anything but that.

He failed to put away four previous match points, but held his nerve throughout, and withstood a fierce comeback by the fourth-seeded Nadal to win, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13, in a draining battle of left-handed players.

The surprising result, after 4 hours 48 minutes, meant that Nadal became the first of the so-called Big Four players, which includes top-seeded Andy Murray, No. 2 Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Roger Federer, to lose.

Müller will play Marin Cilic in one quarterfinal on Wednesday, and the winner of that match would play the winner of a quarterfinal between Murray — who beat Benoit Paire 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-4 on Monday — and No. 24 Sam Querrey. Despite losing a grueling tiebreaker in the fourth set of his fourth-round match, Querrey remained steady and beat Kevin Anderson, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (11), 6-3.

Federer also advanced to the quarterfinals, defeating Grigor Dimitrov, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. He will next face sixth-seeded Milos Raonic, who outlasted No. 10 Alexander Zverev, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Djokovic’s fourth-round match against Adrian Mannarino, which was to be played after Nadal and Müller finished on Court No. 1, was postponed until Tuesday.

Nadal’s loss was so unexpected because he has played so well this year, especially on clay, where he cruised to his record 10th French Open title last month. His form seemed to be holding on the dry grass and dirty patches of the Wimbledon courts, and Nadal himself acknowledged the conditions were increasingly favoring his style of play.

But Müller was having none of that. He was 10-1 on grass this season coming into the match, and he dominated Nadal in the first two sets, using his deceptive toss and serve to confuse Nadal, who did not break serve until the third set.

In that set, Nadal moved back a step from the baseline on Müller’s serve and began to return with more authority, gaining momentum with each successful stroke.

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Rafael Nadal, the No. 4 seed, had been cruising at Wimbledon after winning his 10th French Open last month.CreditGlyn Kirk/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Nadal, who was hoping to reach his third consecutive major quarterfinal for the first time since 2014, finally broke Müller at 2-1 in the third set, and yelled to emphasize the point and to invite the fans to join the fray on his behalf. That included those supporting him, but also some fans simply hoping for more tennis, so rapid had the first two sets slipped by.

When Nadal held his serve to go up, 4-1, he thrust his fist, jumped into the air — without hitting his head, this time — and yelled. The audience responded, and Nadal rode the wave to capture the set.

With the momentum now firmly on his side, Nadal broke Müller’s serve at 2-2 in the fourth set when Müller hit a backhand into the net. At least for the moment, the match appeared to lurch in Nadal’s favor.

But Müller, who now found himself tied at two sets apiece, refused to be overwhelmed by Nadal’s gathering strength. In the fifth set, he rediscovered his serve out wide in the ad court, pushed the ball to where even Nadal could not make a decent return, and went ahead, 5-4, holding serve without relinquishing a point.

The final set, which continued well past 7 p.m. here, was a tense, dramatic affair that waited for someone to make a mistake.

Needing to defend two match points at 4-5, 15-40 in the 10th game, Nadal responded with his best serves at the most critical moments. He hit an ace down the middle, scored two service winners, and finally won the game with another ace down the middle.

At 6-6, Müller hit a wild forehand long — perhaps suggesting fatigue or nerves — and gave Nadal his first break point of the set. But Müller, who had been serving out wide with regularity, slammed one hard down the middle for an ace, then held on the next point with a winning backhand volley at the net.

Müller made a mistake in the 17th game by hitting a slice backhand out, but recuperated behind his strong serve. At deuce, he drilled a serve wide and followed it up at net, and then delivered an ace out wide on the next point, making Nadal stretch on both.

After the set reached 9-9, Müller had to summon all his resolve to keep Nadal from breaking. The game lasted nine minutes and included five deuces. Müller staved off four break points before holding with an ace down the middle.

Now down 9-10, Nadal saved a third and fourth match point, and he also held serve by hitting a desperate sliding, half-volley that cut across the net at an acute angle and fell in.

Müller won the 21st game of the set with comparative ease and won the first two points of the next game, getting him within two points of the match again. But Nadal won the next four points to even the score.

With Nadal serving at 11-12 and the sun setting lower over the stadium, one of his serves took off and zipped cleanly past Müller’s racket. Nadal won the game on a service winner.

As the match proceeded, both men increased their control over their serves. Müller won a game handily, as did Nadal, and Müller again to make it 14-13.

In the final game Müller missed a shot and swatted at the ball on its return, showing perhaps his first sign of frustration. But it was the last point he would lose. Nadal mishit a forehand, and then on the fifth match point swatted a ball long, ending a match that neither will forget for a long time.

Source - nytimes