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9/4/08 2:03 AM | David Cox
2008 has been the year of the underdog, each slam has seen a surprise name reach the business end of the two weeks. In Melbourne it was Tsonga, in Paris it was Monfils, at Wimbledon it was Schuettler and now in New York, Gilles Muller is the unlikely man making headlines
Davydenko hadn't dropped a set 3 rounds going into this match, he was on a hot streak and looked a sure-fire favourite to make the last 8. Despite Muller's amazing achievements of week 1, becoming the first man in over 20 years to win 2 straight matches from 2 sets to love down, most people thought Davydenko is top 5 calibre, a different ball game to the likes of Almagro
However, Luxembourg's sporting hero turned up to the Louis Armstrong arena simply inspired and pumped 20 aces and 60 winners past an increasingly shell-shocked opponent
Davydenko could well have lost this match in straight sets. He was rolled over 6-4 in the first, Muller's imposing 6ft5 frame often presenting an unbreachable barrier at the net even for the wristy Russian. Muller's heavily sliced approach shots and wrong-footing forehands constantly kept Davydenko off balance and he was cruising at 4-1 in the second
We knew there had to be a Davydenko fightback at some stage and it came. He reeled off 5 straight games to level at one set apiece. It didn't seem to effect Muller though who remained icy cool, knowing his opponent probably couldn't keep that up
It proved to be the case and Muller eased through the 3rd 6-3 with a single break in game 6, a heavy forehand once more doing the damage. Set 4 was the closest of the lot, neither player made much impact on the other's serve and a tiebreak ensued. Speaking afterwards Muller described it as the most exciting tiebreak of his life, “The tiebreaker was amazing. I think the shot he did at 5‑4 was the shot of the tournament for sure.It was hard to accept it, but the good thing is I smiled about it and kept going, and it really helped me.”
We all waited for that inevitable moment when with a quarter-final place at touching distance, Muller would become tight........But it never came. Even when Davydenko saved several match points, Muller remained solid and claimed his just reward 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(10)
Muller said that his physical conditioning in this tournament through the long matches has surprised even him ! “I'm very surprised about myself, because, I mean, to be honest, before when I was playing, I felt like I wasn't very good physically‑wise. I wasn't feeling great, because I was playing a lot through the whole year because I was playing challengers, and I wanted to play every week because I needed points. And so it's been a long time since I've really done a few weeks where only hard, physical work to be prepared for those matches.So actually, I came into the tournament without really big preparation.”
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Nikolay Davydenko
Gilles Muller
US Open
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