Muller Serves His Way Into Ricoh Open Final
Muller Serves His Way Into Ricoh Open Final
Muller will play in first grass-court final
Gilles Muller prevailed in a battle of big-serving veterans to reach his first tour-level final in four years on Saturday in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. He will next face defending champion Nicolas Mahut for the first time at tour-level.
The crafty left-hander kept up his nearly perfect serving during his semi-final match against the 6’11” Croatian Ivo Karlovic. Muller nailed 22 aces, including four straight at 5-6 in the second set. The Luxembourg native also won 96 per cent of his first-serve points (49/51) to win 7-6(5), 7-6(4) and move into the Ricoh Open final.
“I’m happy I’m in a final,” Muller said. “It was a very tough match.”
Neither Muller or Karlovic saw a break point on Saturday as both players’ serve-and-volley games dominated play. Karlovic hit 21 aces and won almost 90 per cent of his first-serve points (42/47).
But it was Muller who came through in the match’s biggest moments. Karlovic double faulted at 1/1 in the first-set tie-break, his fourth of the first set, giving Muller a mini-break. Muller held the next two points to go up 4-1 and later won the first set tie-break with a backhand volley into the open court.
In the second set tie-break, Karlovic netted a backhand volley at 1/2 to give Muller another mini-break. Muller, No. 44 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, needed nothing more, winning the second set on another backhand volley.
“The most important points were in the tie-break,” Muller said, “and I didn’t lose one point on serve in the tie-breaks.”
Mahut saw off American Sam Querrey 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4. The two-time champion (2013 & 2015) survived 19 aces from Querrey and scored the only two breaks of the match to prevail in just under two hours. The French serve-and-volleyer did not face a break point in the final two sets and improved to 2-0 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Querrey (2015 US Open).
“On grass, you just need to play one point at a time,” Mahut said. “I had the chance to break him late in the second set. At one set-all, anything can happen.
“It’s tough to explain how I feel at this tournament. Every time I come here, either I win or I end up losing to the winner. I love the court and the atmosphere. In the final, it’s better to win than to lose, but I’m just happy to be in it and will try my best tomorrow.”