Gilles Müller (; born 9 May 1983) is a Luxembourgish former professional
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. He is a two-time
major
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* Major (rank), a military rank
* Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits
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singles quarterfinalist, making him by far the most successful male tennis player in Luxembourgish history. Müller won two titles on the
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...
and achieved a career-high
ATP singles ranking of world No. 21 on 31 July 2017. He was known for his powerful left-handed serve and net skills. Following his retirement, Müller was appointed as Luxembourg's Davis Cup team captain.
Career
Junior tennis
Müller played his first junior match in 1997 at the age of 14 at a grade 4 tournament in Luxembourg. 2001 was Müller's most successful year in juniors. He started off by making the semifinals of the
Junior Australian Open where he lost to the No. 1 ranked junior
Janko Tipsarević of Yugoslavia (1–6, 6–4, 2–6). Following an early exit at the
Junior French Open, He reached the final of the Boys' Singles at the
2001 Wimbledon Championships, where he was defeated by
Roman Valent of Switzerland (6–3, 5–7, 3–6). He won the Boys' Singles final at the
2001 US Open, defeating Taiwan's
Yeu-Tzuoo Wang (7–6, 6–2). He attained No. 1 ranking on the junior circuit on September 10, 2001, and finished the year with the ranking. He ended his junior career after an early exit at the
Orange Bowl with an overall singles record of 81–29 throughout his junior career.
Junior Grand Slam results – Singles:
Australian Open: SF (2001)
French Open: 3R (2001)
Wimbledon: F (
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
)
US Open: W (2001)
2001–2003: The beginning
Although beginning to play ITF events in 2000, Müller did not turn pro until 2001 at the age of 18. Between April 2001 and August 2002, He won a total of four ITF futures events. He made his ATP debut at the
2002 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships after receiving a wildcard into the singles main draw where he lost in the first round to
Ivo Heuberger (2–6, 6–3, 6–7
(8–10)).
By the time 2003 came, Müller had already broke into the top 300 and started consistently playing in
ATP Challenger Tour
The ATP Challenger Tour (known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series) is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. It was founded in 1976 as a replacement for the ILTF Satellite Circuit (founded in 1971) as ...
events where he made his first challenger final in April and won his first challenger title in July. He qualified for his second ATP event, the
2003 Copenhagen Open where he lost in the first round to
Jean-René Lisnard (5–7, 4–6).
Müller entered the qualifying draws of the
2003 French Open and the
2003 US Open, losing both in the first round.
2004–2005: ATP Tour finals and wins against top-10 players
Müller began 2004 with his first ATP Tour match win at the
2004 Auckland Open where he defeated
Nicolás Lapentti (7–5, 6–7
(3–7), 6–1) and his first grand slam at the
2004 Australian Open where he lost in the first round to
David Ferrer (6–7
(4–7), 1–6, 3–6). His breakthrough event came at the
2004 Legg Mason Tennis Classic where he made his first ATP Tour final and defeated 1st seed and world No. 6
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 101 ...
(4–6, 5–7) to register his first win over a top-10 player. He lost in the final to 2nd seed and world No. 8
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) fo ...
(3–6, 4–6). His result at the tournament would push his ranking into the top-100 for the first time in his career. He also defeated world No. 10
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian (; born 1 January 1982) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He reached his highest ranking in singles of world No. 3 in March 2006, during a career that spanned from 2000 to 2013. Nalbandian was runner-up in ...
(7–6
(7–4), 3–6, 4–6,) at the
2004 Japan Open for his second win over a top-10 player. He finished 2004 his a year-end ranking of 69.
At the
2005 Wimbledon Championships, Müller stunned 4th seed and world No. 3
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
(6–4, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4) in the second round. He lost in the third round to 27th seed
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
(6–7
(3–7), 3–6, 3–6). He made his second ATP Tour final at the
2005 Los Angeles Open where he lost to top seed and world No. 6
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 101 ...
(4–6, 5–7). At the
2005 US Open, he stunned 4th seed and world No. 3
Andy Roddick (6–7
(4–7), 6–7
(8–10), 6–7
(1–7)). He lost in the second round to eventual semifinalist
Robby Ginepri (1–6, 1–6, 4–6). He finished 2005 with a year-end ranking of 76.
2006–2007: Back outside of the top 100
Müller's success started to die down in 2006. He started to get worse results in ATP events which dropped his ranking back outside of the top-100 to 105 by the end of the year. After January 2007, he returned to solely playing challenger events and had to start qualifying for grand slams and ATP events despite usually gaining automatic entry since 2005.
2008: First Grand Slam quarterfinal
At the
2008 US Open, Müller, ranked 130 at the time, had to go through the qualification tournament. He reached the main draw and advanced to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career, earnining a win over fifth-seeded
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko ( ; born 2 June 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 in November 2006. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tournam ...
in the fourth round. He lost to defending and eventual champion
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
in straight sets (6–7, 4–6, 6–7).
2009–2013: Struggles with injuries
On 19 January 2009, Müller beat Spaniard
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016. ...
(6–3, 7–6, 4–6, 4–6, 16–14) in an epic four-hour, 24-minute match in the first round of the
2009 Australian Open. His run in the tournament ended in the third round by the eighth-seeded
Juan Martín del Potro.

In September 2011, he advanced to the fourth round of the
US Open, losing to
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
, whom he had already lost to in the third round of Wimbledon earlier that same year.
Müller registered his 100th singles win by defeating Australian
Marinko Matosevic (7–6, 6–4) in Atlanta. He also reached his first ATP final in seven years at the
2012 Atlanta Open final, losing to
Andy Roddick (6–1, 6–7, 2–6) after the American came back from one set and one break down to win what would be Roddick's last final on the ATP Tour.
Müller's final match in 2013 was at the
2013 French Open where he lost in round 1 to
Roberto Bautista Agut. He finished the year at No. 368 in the world rankings after missing the second half of the season with an elbow injury.
2014: Back inside the top 50
In January, Müller returned to playing tennis and competed mostly on the
Challenger Tour, winning five titles.
Müller
qualified for the
2014 Wimbledon Championships
The 2014 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 128th edition of the The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon C ...
where he lost to
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
in the second round.
Müller lost in the first round at the
US Open to
Paul-Henri Mathieu (7–6, 5–7, 6–7, 7–6, 1–6).
Müller lost to Federer in the first round of the
2014 Swiss Indoors before falling in the qualifying rounds of the
Paris Masters. He finished the season with a ranking of No. 47 and was elected
Luxembourg's Sportsman of the Year.
2015: Breaking the top 40
Müller began 2015 at the
Aircel Chennai Open, where he made the quarterfinals, losing to eventual champion
Stan Wawrinka. He then competed in the
Sydney International losing in the semifinals to
Viktor Troicki, the eventual champion. He put together his best
Australian Open campaign to date, losing in the fourth round to world No. 1 and eventual champion
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
(4–6, 5–7, 5–7). His performance during the entire month saw him crack the top 40 for the first time in his career on 2 February.
He had a strong showing in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
, defeating
David Goffin
David Goffin (; born 7 December 1990) is a Belgian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 7, making him the highest ranked male player from Belgium in tennis history. He is also the first ...
and
Grigor Dimitrov, and then lost to Wawrinka in the quarterfinals. However, he fell out of the top 50 for the first time of the year on 11 May because he didn't defend his titles on the
Challenger Tour.
Müller had a strong start to the grass court season, reaching the semifinals of the
Topshelf Open as well as the quarterfinals at
Queen's, beating defending champion Dimitrov for the second time in two meetings since the beginning of the year. He then lost to eventual champion
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
.
This was followed by a semifinals appearance at the
2015 BB&T Atlanta Open, where he eventually lost to
Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis (Greek language, Greek: Μάρκος Παγδατής, Arabic language, Arabic: ماركوس بغداتيس); born 17 June 1985 is a Greek Cypriot former professional tennis player and coach. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Aus ...
in three sets (7–6, 3–6, 6–7).
He also reached the quarterfinals of the
Moselle Open in addition to the semifinals of the
Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships.
Müller finished the season with a world ranking of No. 38 and was elected
Luxembourg's Sportsman of the Year for the second year in a row.
2016: Fourth and fifth ATP finals
He started 2016 by reaching the semifinals of both the
Sydney International and the
2016 Garanti Koza Sofia Open.
At the
2016 Ricoh Open, he reached the final, losing to the defending champion
Nicolas Mahut in straight sets. At the
2016 Aegon Open Nottingham, he reached the semifinals, falling to second-seeded
Pablo Cuevas
Pablo Gabriel Cuevas Urroz (; born January 1, 1986) is a Uruguayan tennis coach and a former professional player. Cuevas won the 2008 French Open – Men's doubles, 2008 French Open men's doubles title with Luis Horna, and was especially noted t ...
of
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
.
He advanced to the final of the
Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, losing to second-seeded
Ivo Karlović in three sets.
Müller represented Luxembourg in singles at the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
, winning in the first round against
Jerzy Janowicz
Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish inactive professional tennis player and padel player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major semifinal, at the 2013 ...
and then beating
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in the second round before losing to Roberto Bautista Agut (4–6, 6–7).
At the
2016 Swiss Indoors, Müller defeated Grigor Dimitrov in the first round and then went on to reach the semifinals, falling to
Kei Nishikori in three sets.
He finished 2016 with a ranking of No. 34 and was again elected
Luxembourg's Sportsman of the Year.
2017: Career-best year, top 25 debut and career-high ranking
Müller finally won his maiden ATP World Tour title at the
2017 Sydney International, over a decade after his first final. He saved a match point in the first round against
Alexandr Dolgopolov. This came less than a week after he lost in the
men's doubles final of the
2017 Brisbane International, playing alongside
Sam Querrey.
He also made the final of
Estoril
Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...
, losing to
Pablo Carreño Busta in what was his first ATP final played on clay. This resulted in him reaching a singles ranking of 26.
Then, at the
2017 Ricoh Open aged 34, Müller set up the oldest ATP World Tour tournament singles final in 41 years against
Ivo Karlović, aged 38. He won the match in two straight tiebreaks (7–6, 7–6), claiming his second ATP World Tour title in the process.
Despite being ranked 26 in the world, Müller's excellent form on grass in the last 12 months saw him earn a seeding of 16th at
Wimbledon, where he made the quarterfinals after defeating world No. 2 Rafael Nadal in a five-set thriller, winning (6–3, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6, 15–13) in 4 hours and 48 minutes. The Luxembourger would subsequently have his run at
The Championships ended by the eventual runner-up
Marin Čilić
Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
, who beat him in another match that went five sets (6–3, 6–7, 5–7, 7–5, 1–6), after Müller experienced physical fatigue during the 5th set.
After reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 21 on 31 July and ending the season ranked world No. 25, he was elected
Luxembourg's Sportsman of the Year for the fourth year in a row.
2018: Final season
Müller entered an ATP tournament as a defending champion for the first time in his career at the
2018 Sydney International, ousting
John Millman before subsequently losing to
Benoît Paire. He then reached the third round of the
2018 Australian Open, ultimately bowing out to Pablo Carreño Busta in four sets.
Müller announced on 16 July that he would retire at the end of the season. He played his last match on the ATP World Tour at the
2018 US Open, losing in a five-setter to
Lorenzo Sonego in the first round.
Müller was honored as one of the biggest retirees of the year at the
2018 ATP Finals alongside
Florian Mayer
Florian Mayer (; born 5 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player.
Mayer reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in June 2011. Also in 2011, Mayer won his first ATP Tour title after four previous defeats in AT ...
and
André Sá
André Rezende Sá (; born 6 May 1977) is a former Brazilian tennis player.
In singles, he was a The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2002 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles, 2002. Sá reached the semifinals of ATP ...
.
National representation
Davis Cup
Müller made his Davis Cup debut for the
Luxembourg Davis Cup team in April 2000 at the age of 16. He competed in 30 ties and out of 73 matches, he won 56 and lost 17, which made him Luxembourg's most successful
Davis Cup player. Following his retirement in 2018, Müller was appointed as Luxembourg's Davis Cup team captain.
Müller led the team to a surprise victory against Finland in February 2004.
Olympic Games
Müller qualified for the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
twice: in
London 2012
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
and in
Rio 2016, reaching the second round at the former and the third round at the latter.
At the
2016 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations, Müller was the official flagbearer for Luxembourg.
Post professional tennis career
TV Commentating
Following his professional tennis career, Müller has been working as a TV
commentator for Tennis TV, World Feed,
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
UK & Ireland and
SkySports among others. In this capacity Müller has been commentating on both
men
A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy.
Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...
's and
women
A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl.
Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...
's professional tennis tours.
ATP career finals
Singles: 8 (2 titles, 6 runner-ups)
Doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Singles: 31 (15–16)
Doubles: 10 (4–6)
Junior Grand Slam finals
Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
Performance timelines
Singles
Doubles
Wins over top 10 players
Record against top 10 players
Müller's ATP-only record against players who have been ranked world No. 10 or higher. Statistics correct as of 16 November 2024.
References
External links
*
*
*
Gilles Müller at stevegtennis.com*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muller, Gilles
Luxembourgian male tennis players
People from Schifflange
Sportspeople from Esch-sur-Alzette (canton)
1983 births
Living people
US Open (tennis) junior champions
Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Olympic tennis players for Luxembourg
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles
21st-century Luxembourgian sportsmen