Alexandre Müller qualified for the round of 16 of the ATP 250 tournament in Athens, beating Jan-Lennard Struff in the tie-break of the third set, after saving a match point.
At the Rolex Paris Masters, he took a set from future finalist Felix Auger-Aliassime, proof that he was doing better, after a series of eight defeats in ten matches before going to the Paris La Défense Arena. Alexandre Müller, future father, will try this week to end his season in style, at the ATP 250 in Athens. And the Frenchman, 43rd in the world, successfully entered the competition, eliminating Jan-Lenard Struff (101st) to reach the round of 16. Müller won 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 after 2h10 of play and after saving a match point.
Faced with a good German server (9 aces, 63% first serves), the Ile-de-France native pulled away to win the victory.
Müller has come a long way
Alexandre Müller started the match very well by breaking on his first opportunity to lead 3-0, then he held perfectly to pocket the set at 5-3 on his first set point. But in the second, the German player raised his level of play, and took the Frenchman’s service at 2-1. He then missed three balls at 5-1, and finally won the set at 5-2, on another break.
It was therefore necessary to play a third, and Müller started well by leading 2-1 thanks to a white break, but Struff managed to get back to 5-5. The Frenchman then missed two break points at 5-5, before having to save a match point at 5-6 on his serve, during a very long game. He finally managed to win his game and therefore force his opponent to play a tie-break.
Wawrinka still there
In this decisive game, Struff led 4-0, but lost the next five points, and Müller, after missing a match point at 6-5, managed to close at 7-6. It is therefore he who will face Tomas Etcheverry or Mackzenzie McDonald in the next round.
In the same quarter of the table, Stan Wawrinka eliminated Botic van de Zandschulp with a score of 2-6, 7-6, 7-5 and will therefore be the first opponent of Lorenzo Musetti, who absolutely must win the tournament to qualify for the Masters.
