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Muller upsets Tsonga at Queen’s


 

Originally published on 21/06/17 00:00

On another sun-kissed afternoon at Queen’s Club, Muller required just a single break in each set to extend his winning run to six matches. The big-serving 34-year-old, who won his second career title at the Ricoh Open in s-Hertogenbosch last week, was an imposing presence at the net throughout and Tsonga was comprehensively outplayed.

‘It’s working well for me at the moment,” said Muller. “Today was very tough and I finished late last night in a match that was an emotional rollercoaster, so I started a little bit rusty this afternoon but in the end it was pretty good.

“My serve is working great. It’s good at this time of year on grass because you need a good serve, so I’m happy with how it’s going.”

Muller was joined in the quarter-finals by Donald Young. The American defeated Viktor Troicki 6-3 6-4 in just 65 minutes and he will play either Marin Cilic or Stefan Kozlov next.

After overcoming a second set wobble and securing an important victory, Young said: “I am looking no further ahead than the next round. It’s one point, one game and one match at a time and there will be no looking ahead from me. We both weren’t playing our best today but that happens, that’s tennis so I’m pleased to get through.”

Grigor Dimitrov recovered from a set down to defeat Julien Benneteau 4-6 6-3 6-4 and reach the last eight once again.

The 2014 champion made an inauspicious start as he dropped serve immediately after three double-faults. He improved as the first set progressed but he could not recover the deficit and the Frenchman banked the opener.

It has been a tournament of upsets and the Bulgarian was in danger of becoming the latest seed to be bundled out the competition however the result was not in doubt from the moment the 26-year-old squared the contest.

Dimitrov, who finished the match with a diving volley and three aces, said: “I’d rather have a match like that early on in the tournament than much later on. It was a tricky day for some reason, I felt like I was hitting the ball well in practice but I started the match with three double-faults which is very unlike me. I just had to fight my way through the match and I was composed and focused throughout.”

The Bulgarian will await the winner of the match between Thanasi Kokkinakis and Daniil Medvedev.

In the final match of the day, Tomas Berdych defeated Denis Shapovalov 7-6(4) 6-7(4) 7-5.

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.