By Niall Clarke
- Andy Murray faces Gilles Muller in the Quarter Finals of Queen’s
- Murray leads the head to head 2-0
- Winner will face either John Isner or Viktor Troicki
Andy Murray will take to the Queen’s Club centre court for the second consecutive day when he faces Gilles Muller in the quarter finals of the Aegon Championships on Friday.
The British number one has not had it easy thus far, fighting off challenges from Yen-Hsun Lu and Fernando Verdasco in the opening two rounds.
Despite not being at his marvellous best, Murray still managed to come through both of those matches in straight sets – it could have been much harder.
The top seed now faces a challenge he was perhaps not expecting in the form of Muller, who ended Grigor Dimitrov’s title defence with a straight sets win on Thursday. Like Murray’s second round opponent Verdasco, the Luxembourg native plays left handed, however stylistically it is a much different proposition.
Whilst Verdasco likes to bang from the baseline with his huge forehand, Muller likes to play a more classical serve and volley game. His slice serve out wide is a weapon that he particularly likes to deploy.
The 32 year old is currently ranked 48th in the world, and is having one his best seasons to date. Muller achieved a career high ranking of 34 earlier in the year, and is 32nd in the race rankings.
Despite having a long career spanning 14 years, Muller has never won an ATP title. He has reached three previous finals in Atlanta (2012), Los Angeles (2005), and Washington (2004) on outdoor hard court which so far has proven to be one of his best surfaces.
The world number 48 has enjoyed a successful start to the grass season. He made the semi-finals of the Topshelf Open last week, falling to David Goffin, and has backed it up with a quarter final run in Queens this week.
Murray has met Muller twice before. The world number three was victorious in both occasions, including a straight sets victory in Dubai this year.
It will be another difficult test for the Brit, as Muller comes in full of confidence after picking up some good wins on the grass this year. The return will be the key against such a big server, especially given he likes to back it up by coming to the net.
Murray will also have to take care of his own serve as the Luxembourgian will not give away many free points during his service games. Tiebreaks will be expected as a result.
The winner of this quarter final clash will head to semi-final Saturday to face the winner of John Isner vs Viktor Troicki
Murray and Muller ar scheduled on Centre Court on Friday, not before 3:30pm BST.