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Gilles Muller is not an uknown name for those who follow men’s professional tennis more closely.

If you don’t remember him from 2004 when he beat Agassi in the semi-finals of Legg Mason Classic in Washington, then you probably heard of him when he beat Andy Roddick in the first round of US Open 2005.

Gilles Muller was born in Luxembourg, is a left-hander and is 195 cm tall.

He turned pro in 2001 and has already earned more than a million dollars on the ATP tour.

He had an incredible run at this year’s US Open when he reached the quarter finals losing to the eventual champion Roger Federer.

Here’s why his run was such an impressive feat:

1. Gilles played many ATP and Challenger series of tournaments this year until the US Open but his results were quite mixed.

He played 4 ATP tournaments and lost 3 times in the first round and once in the second round. His Challenger results are a little better although he was far from being constant; he played 12 Challengers, won 2 of them and lost in others most of the times in the first or second round.

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Andy Murray played a smart tactical game when winning the semi-final match at the 2008 US Open against Rafael Nadal 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-4.

Nadal’s aggressive baseline game has been an unsolvable problem for Federer and most other players in 2008 but Murray found a crack in it.

Here’s how most players play against Nadal:

1. They play to his backhand since his forehand is a stronger shot. While this stops Nadal from attacking for a few shots, it doesn’t really win points. Nadal’s backhand may be weaker than his forehand but it’s far from being a weak shot especially if he doesn’t have to move much!

2. They position themselves at the normal spot when returning his serves – 1m or so behind the baseline. Nadal’s serve cannot compare to Andy Roddick’s rockets but it’s still a very good shot and keeps the returner on defense.

3. They force the shots since they know that Nadal will bring every ball back. Forcing the shots means playing with more and more risk and this eventually doesn’t work since the long term probability of winning the point goes to Nadal. (more…)

Roger Federer – Andy Roddick quarterfinal match at the US Open 2007 was one of the highest quality tennis matches I’ve seen lately.

It reminded me of the famous Agassi – Sampras quarterfinal match in 2000 when all 4 sets went to tie-break and Sampras won 3-1.

Andy had the right tactic to play Roger – attack the attacker.

Roger is at his best when he controls the game, makes you run, makes you hit low sliced balls and forces you to make impossible passing shots.

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Roger Federer won his third round US Open 2007 match against John Isner with a 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 score.

He was having trouble with Isner’s serve who served 9 aces in the first set, had a 72% of the first serve and won 79% of points when the first serve went in.

But something remarkably happened in the second and third set: Federer played 105 points without an unforced error!

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Looking to buy US Open tennis tickets?

Tennis tickets for US Open are already on sale and here are some tips and thoughts before you buy them:

1. In most cases, if you buy tennis tickets for multiple days, you’ll get a discount.

2. Lower seats give you a much better view but they cost more.

3. Try and get a seat behind the player so that you will clearly see the pattern of play.

If you have a seat on the side of the court you constantly need to turn your head to see the ball and you miss a lot on how the players actually hit the ball and where.

4. US Open tennis tickets will become more and more expensive as the date of the tournament comes closer. US Open starts on 27th of August and ends on 9th of September.

5. Good days to watch are quarterfinals where you get to see many top players battling in exciting matches.

If they got to the quarterfinals they had to be in form and there is usually not so much pressure as in the semifinal so the level of play can be higher.

6. The best day to watch is the Super Saturday where you get to see men’s semifinals and women’s final. But be ready to stay on court for at least 5 hours.

Oh yes, where to buy the tickets for this year’s US Open?

Buy US Open Tennis Tickets