Novak Djokovic vs. Gilles Muller: Score, Reaction from 2015 Australian Open
Novak Djokovic continued his march towards Australian Open glory with a 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 win over Gilles Muller in Round 4. The top seed was pushed hard by his opponent throughout the match, but Djokovic's class eventually shone through.
The result and winning scoreline was confirmed by the tournament’s official Twitter account:
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Here's what Djokovic had to say in the aftermath of what was an entertaining encounter:
Ahead of this match, Muller’s coach Jamie Delgado insisted the Luxembourg star was ready to seize his opportunity against the world No. 1, per BBC Sport:
"It's awesome to play against the best player in the world in a night match at a Grand Slam.
That's what Gilles has worked so hard for. Twelve months ago he started off at the lower tournaments and had to go to some places he didn't want to go to, so to get to this sort of stage is amazing.
But we're also looking for him to go out there and play his game and push Djokovic, and if he plays well maybe even beat him.
"
As we can see here, the 31-year-old certainly has the serve to cause problems for any player:
It seemed as though Muller—who has showcased some excellent refinements in his game of late—heeded his coach’s words early on too. He put some admirable early pressure on the Djokovic serve and looked very comfortable when he had the ball in hand himself. But the Serb clung on and began to establish a rhythm.
When he finds that groove, there are few players who can live with the seven-time Grand Slam winner. He made Muller pay for not capitalising on his early blitz, breaking his imposing opponent in the seventh game before going on to take the opening stanza 6-4.
As noted by ESPN Tennis, Muller faced quite the task if he was to turn this one around:
"World No.1 Novak Djokovic has won 302 of his last 312 matches when winning 1st set since the beginning of 2010. #ESPNTennis #UpAllNight
— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) January 26, 2015"
The man from Luxembourg continued to serve well, but Djokovic was in the groove at this stage. His shotmaking was more varied, his movement was sharper and, although he was struggling to manufacture break points throughout the second set, the Serb was doing an excellent job of getting the booming serves of Muller back into play.
ByTheMin Tennis paid tribute to Djokovic’s own underrated service game, which had yet to yield a single break point as the second set moved towards a conclusion:
Once again, Djokovic seized the initiative late on in the set. A tie-break was looking imminent once again as the players grew increasingly comfortable on serve, but some slack shots from Muller in the tenth game yielded a couple of break points and the top seed snaffled the second to go 6-5. Naturally, he made no mistake in serving out the set.
As we can see, once Novak was getting himself into rallies, he was dominating from the baseline:
Muller was staring down the barrel at this point but to his credit he came roaring back at the start of the third set. The 31-year-old manufactured four break points in the fifth game, but on each occasion Djokovic managed to to win the point; the top seed eventually won the game thanks to some stellar defence and wonderful touch around the net.
Boris Becker—Novak's coach—was looking a little concerned after his man's intensity wavered a little:
Muller was playing as well as he had done throughout the match at this point and was pushing Djokovic on every point. But there was an overwhelming sense that mentally, the Serb had an edge. So it was no surprise to see him break Muller again late on and serving out the match with a swagger.
This was a good test for Djokovic, especially with Milos Raonic lying in wait in the quarter-finals. Like Muller, the Canadian is a player who centres his game around a booming serve and Novak showcased in earnest here that he has all the tools to deal with those weapons. The sixth seed will surely make things even more difficult for the four-time Australian champion, though.
With Roger Federer out and Rafael Nadal looking somewhat vulnerable, there’s a massive opportunity for the top seed to seize a coveted fifth championship in Melbourne. He’s been the best player in the world for a long time now and on the back of another excellent performance, it’s difficult to any player in the draw prising him out of contention.
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