Rafael Nadal: Why Gilles Muller Poses Little Threat to Rafa at US Open

Cramps or no cramps, Rafael Nadal will not have much trouble advancing to the eight at Flushing Meadows on Wednesday.

His opponent is Gilles Muller, a player Nadal has gone 3-1 against in his career. In their last match at Wimbledon, Rafa cruised to the 7-6(6) 7-6(5) 6-0 win.

Nadal has been under fire the last two days after incredibly painful cramps forced him to wince in pain in front of cameras while he was conducting a post match interview.

It looked a lot worse than it actually was. Everybody gets cramps due to lack of hydration or putting pressure on the wrong part of the body. This is not something to be concerned about.

The status of his foot and burnt fingers are also still in question…but the injuries have not been a problem thus far in the tournament.

Muller entered the US Open still searching for his first ever ATP title. He has been the beneficiary of an upset to reach the round of 16 after Mikhail Youzhny was beat before he met Muller and the overrated Igor Kunitsyn was his three-round victim.

He will attempt to run Nadal ragged all over the court in an attempt to flare up one of his injuries. Muller’s return game will be the only way he can make this a competitive match.

At this point Nadal is used to masking the pain of his injuries and is able to adjust his game accordingly. He will not be diving all over the court like in years past.

Rafa will be looking to take advantage of his strong and supremely accurate serve against an opponent that has never been able to do much against it.

With the extra day to rest up, nobody benefited more from Tuesday’s rainout day more than Nadal.

Expect a fresh Nadal to barely break a sweat as he serves his way into a spot in the elite eight of the final major tournament of the season.