Nadal Finds His Form, Dispatches Muller in Straight Sets

Though the first set took two days to complete, once defending US Open champion Rafael Nadal hit his stride, he dispatched Gilles Muller in just over an hour Thursday afternoon.

The Round of 16 match between No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal and his unseeded 28-year-old opponent Gilles Muller of Luxembourg was scheduled for Wednesday. First it was delayed by rain for three hours; then it was postponed after three games.

Those three games were all Muller, as the big Luxembourger used his booming serve and forehand to break his Spanish opponent and win two service games.

After play was suspended, Nadal, Andy Murray and Andy Roddick complained to the organizers that they were forced to play in unsafe conditions. With that off his chest, Nadal was able to come back Thursday and focus on tennis.

Muller came out strong when the match resumed, serving up eight aces, running Rafa all over the court with big, left-handed forehands, and charging the net successfully.

Nadal got the break back at 4–2 but couldn’t get another; the match went to a tie-breaker.

Muller would have seemed to have the advantage in a tie-breaker with his 127-mph serve and aggressive volleying, but Nadal had the edge in competitive drive.

The defending champion took the first four points of the tie-break, lost one point on Muller’s serve, then closed out the set.

Nadal had three aces and three double faults, only five other unforced errors and 20—yes, 20—winners in the first set. Once he found his rhythm Nadal, who started the day down three games and a break, began to look like a defending champion playing a 68^th-ranked player.

The first set took 65 minutes; the next two together took 63. Muller’s big serve seemed to evaporate—he hit only three aces in the last two sets. Errors beat the big lefty—43 in the match, and most of them coming at key junctures.

Muller stayed aggressive, matching Nadal’s power from the baseline and charging the net whenever possible, but Nadal had found his form. With 33 winners and only 11 unforced errors in the set and winning 81 percent of his first serve points, Nadal simply steamrolled his opponent in the final two sets, giving up only three games.

Nadal will face the winner of the David Ferrer/Andy Roddick match. This match, also postponed from Wednesday, started on Armstrong court but had to be moved when the court surface cracked and began weeping water.

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