Muller crushes Nadal’s hopes
LONDON: Rafael Nadal’s challenge for a third Wimbledon crown ended in heart-breaking fashion as relentless Luxembourger Gilles Muller won a nerve-jangling fourth-round classic 6-3 6-4 3-6 4-6 15-13 yesterday.
The 31-year-old Nadal fought back from two sets down and saved four match points in a 135-minute minute fifth set in which he successfully served to stay alive nine times.
At the 10th time of asking, however, and with thousands of transfixed fans watching the drama unfold on the screen on the hill and on the edge of their seats on Court One, Nadal buckled under the relentless pressure exerted by an inspired Muller.
A miss-hit forehand gave Muller two more match points and this time he finished the job as a weary Nadal went long.
Sixteenth seed Muller, who served 30 aces and hit 95 winners, will play Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals.
“I’m just glad it’s over,” the 34-year-old Muller, who claimed a second Wimbledon win over Nadal having beaten him at the All England Club in 2005, said.
“I did really well in the first two sets, then Rafa stepped it up. It was a big battle. When I had the last two match points, I thought I just had to give it a shot.”
Muller outplayed 15-times grand slam champion Nadal in the opening two sets but when the Spaniard fired himself up and began to play his best tennis it seemed his chance had gone.
With Prince Felix of Luxembourg watching in the stands, Muller showed remarkable resolve to withstand the Nadal fightback and keep his nose in front in the fifth set.
He saw two match points come and go in the 10th game, saved break points at 6-6 and 9-9 as Nadal turned the screws, and then secured the biggest victory of his career to reach the last eight at Wimbledon for the first time.
Meanwhile, evergreen Roger Federer kept his quest for a record eighth Wimbledon crown on track yesterday, dispatching Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-2 6-4 in a match-up of classic styles that had the purists purring.
The Bulgarian 13th seed, nicknamed “Baby Fed” when he was a junior on the basis of a single-handed backhand as silkily smooth as the Swiss master’s, looked sharp in the early exchanges.
It was close to mirror-image tennis as the two men exchanged searing groundstrokes, gliding to the Centre Court net when they saw an opening to dispatch clinical volleys.
But the difference between the greatest ever player on grass and the man who has struggled for years to emerge from his shadow told on the big points. Third seed Federer, who missed the clay-court season to better prepare for his favourite tournament, took a decisive lead in the ninth game, converting his third break point. The Swiss then served out the first set to love.
“(Dimitrov) did give me some opportunities ... but most important was for me to really focus on my game,” Federer told the BBC after the match.
“I thought it was a terrific match and I didn’t expect it to go that easy for me.”
Now 26 and seeking his first win against Federer in six matches, Dimitrov sought to up the pace in the second set.
But as he did so the Bulgarian’s error count also rose, and he conceded the second set on a break of serve, punctuating a double fault with two forehands that flew long.
That pattern continued in the third set as another forehand error from Dimitrov handed Federer victory on his second match point in just over an hour and a half.
“(Winning Wimbledon) is going to be a tough one regardless if I played the French Open or not.
“The good thing is I am not trying to heal something like last year’s (injured knee),” Federer said.
Elsewhere, defending champion Andy Murray eased into the quarter-finals for the 10th successive year with a 7-6(1) 6-4 6-4 victory over Benoit Paire.
Murray was not at his best against Paire and his faltering serve was frequently exploited by the 46th-ranked Frenchman, who caused the Briton trouble without being able to inflict any lasting damage.
He broke Murray twice in a row in the first set, which ended up going to a tiebreak that the top seed won comfortably.
Murray had too much guile for Paire, however, and wrapped up his 26th successive win against French opposition in two hours and 21 minutes.
Top seed Angelique Kerber was knocked out of the last-16 by Garbine Muguruza, ensuring she will lose her world number one ranking. Muguruza’s 4-6 6-4 6-4 victory marked the ninth consecutive time Kerber has failed to beat a top-20 opponent.
Romanian Simona Halep could now take the world number one crown if she reaches the semi-finals. Halep beat Victoria Azarenka to move into the quarters, where she will face Johanna Konta.
But there was a bitter irony for Kerber who, despite being somewhat hampered by her left knee, produced her best display in months and yet bids farewell to Wimbledon and her status as the world’s best.
“I think we both played a good match but in the end I think it was just two points that decided the match,” said Kerber.
“Of course I’m disappointed that I lost the match, because I was really playing good.”
Kerber broke to go 5-4 up in the first set when at the end of a fierce rally her Spanish opponent went wide and allowed the German to serve out, securing the set with an emphatic smash. The second set was on-serve until, with Kerber serving at 5-4 down, the tall Muguruza, who had saved three break points in the set, broke to secure it with a fine crosscourt winner.
Kerber’s left knee, which she appeared to hurt in the first set, was reducing her push-off on serve with the consequent impact on her speed, but the third set became a battle of nerves and stamina in the early afternoon heat.
The German broke in the first game and led 2-0, but both struggled to hold serve and it was soon 3-3 with two breaks each.
In an epic 10-minute game, Muguruza held for 4-3 with the crowd appreciating some hugely entertaining rallies between the determined pair.
Two games later Kerber dealt with two match-point threats, but Muguruza grabbed the third to book her place in the last eight. She will next face Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova after the seventh seed beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-4. – Reuters