Yesterday in the fourth round at Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal was stunned by Gilles Muller, a journeyman player from Luxembourg having a career season. Meanwhile, fellow tournament favorites Rodger Federer and Andy Murray easily won in straight sets. Novak Djokovic's match got delayed to today because of the length of the Nadal-Muller match, but he also won in straight sets.
Muller's epic five-set upset over Nadal
Fourth-seeded Rafael Nadal, who was one the favorites to win Wimbledon, was playing against 16th-seeded Gilles Muller. Muller took the first two sets 6-3, 6-4 before Nadal made a furious rally to take the next two 6-3, 6-4.
This led to a match-winning fifth set in which a two-game lead must be reached to win. Eventually, after a 4-hour and 48-minute marathon, Muller won the fifth set to win 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13.
For Nadal, this extends his streak of not having been to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon since 2011. Interestingly enough for his career in majors, Nadal is 26-3 against left-handers, with two of those losses coming to Muller. For the 34-year-old Muller, this is only the second time he has gotten to the quarterfinals in a major, with the last trip being at the 2008 US Open. Muller turned pro back in 2001 but has only won two career titles, which have both come this year. He won the Syndey International back in January and the Rosmalen Championships last month.
Federer, Murray, and Djokovic win easily
Third-seeded Rodger Federer beat thirteenth-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. He extended his record of quarterfinals appearances at Wimbledon to 15 and his overall quarterfinals appearances in majors to 50. Top-seeded Andy Murray defeated unseeded Frenchman Benoit Paire 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, 6-4.
This is the tenth consecutive year that he has at least reached the quarterfinals at the event he won last year. Today, 2nd-seeded Novak Djokovic beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. This is the ninth time in the last eleven years that he has gotten this far in the event.
Matchups for the quarterfinals
The matchups for the Wimbledon quarterfinals are now all set after Djokovic's match today.
Great Britain's Andy Murray will be facing 24th-seeded American Sam Querrey. Novak Djokovic will be playing against 11th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych. Rodger Federer will be facing 6th-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic. Finally, 7th-seeded Croatian Marin Cilic will be playing Gilles Muller.
