1 Response to wb17muller_nadal

1. Voo de Mar says:

   July 17, 2021 at 8:59 pm

   Points won by each set: | 28-21, 26-28, 20-31, 25-34, 92-84 |
   Points won directly behind the serve:
   34 % Muller – 74 of 212
   32 % Nadal – 58 of 177

   Based purely on their status in tennis history, it’d be called a big upset, but given some circumstances (Muller’s best season, favorite surface, great experience in # tight 5-setters, a win over a teenage Nadal [2] on the same court no. 1 in 2005… Nadal’s poor appearances at Wimbledon in years 2012-2016) it was very open match from start to finish. The 34-year-old Muller [26] saved a break point at 2-all in the opener and a double BP at 3:4 in the 2nd set. In the titanic decider, no-one could break for more than two hours, in the meantime they both had their chances: Muller wasted four match points (two at 5:4 and another two at 10:9), Nadal wasted 5 mini match points (one at 6-all, four at 9-all). Nadal actually thought that he broke because on his last chance the linesman called “out” Muller’s second serve, but it was correctly overruled by the umpire – with “replay the point” and a first serve to his disposal, Muller saved the BP with an ace DTT. The man from Luxembourg was quite relaxed during baseline rallies in the decider, Nadal needed to serve the best he could, but after holding so many times in a row (23 in total), he ultimately failed, missing two easy forehands in the end.

   # Muller played nine five-setters in his career when the scoreline reached 5-all in the decider and lost only once in those circumstances (5-7, to Millman) having won for instance 16-14 (F.Lopez) and 15-13 (Giraldo). He finished his career with a very good 15-8 record (65%) in five-setters, and that victory over Nadal was his longest (4 hours 48 minutes)

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