Gilles Müller

Junior tennis

In 2001, the year Müller turned pro, he would reach the final of the Boys' Singles at the 2001 Wimbledon Championships, but was defeated by Roman Valent of Switzerland, 6–3, 5–7, 3–6. Later that year, Müller won the Boys' Singles final at the 2001 US Open by defeating Taiwan's Yeu-Tzuoo Wang, 7–6, 6–2. Müller finished the year 2001 as the World No. 1 junior, posting a singles record of 72–26 throughout his junior career.

2004/2005: Success against top players

Starting 2004 ranked 193, Müller had several victories over top players including Nicolas Lapentti at the Auckland Open, Andre Agassi in the semifinals of the 2004 Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C., over Rafael Nadal in the second round of 2005 Wimbledon, and over Andy Roddick in the first round of the 2005 US Open.

In February 2004, Müller led the Davis Cup team to a surprise victory against Finland by defeating Jarkko Nieminen.

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 after consecutively defeating Laurent Recouderc, former No. 2 Tommy Haas, Nicolás Almagro and fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko. He had not been sure that he would even qualify and so, as a result, he had not even booked a hotel room for the tournament. He then lost to both defending and eventual champion Roger Federer in straight sets, 6–7, 4–6, 6–7.

2009/2010: Injuries

On January 19, 2009, Müller beat Spaniard Feliciano López, 6–3, 7–6, 4–6, 4–6, 16–14, in an epic four-hour, twenty-four minute match in the first round of the 2009 Australian Open. Müller then beat local favorite Bernard Tomic, 3–6, 6–1, 6–4, 6–2 in the second round, before eventually losing to 8th seeded Juan Martín del Potro in the third round.

2011: US Open 4th round

In September 2011, he advanced to the fourth round of the US Open, beating Frenchman Édouard Roger-Vasselin, Latvian Ernests Gulbis and Russian Igor Kunitsyn in the first three rounds. He then lost to Rafael Nadal, whom he had already faced and lost to in the third round of Wimbledon the same year.

2012: Third ATP final

Müller posted his 100th singles win by defeating Australian Marinko Matosevic (7–6, 6–4) in Atlanta. He reached the Atlanta Open final, losing to Andy Roddick, 6–1, 6–7, 2–6, in a match was notable for being Roddick's last professional final before his retirement later that year.

2013: Injury time-out

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 play tennis and competed mostly on the challenger circuit, winning 5 titles.

Müller qualified for Wimbledon where he lost to Roger Federer in round 2. Jamie Delgado made his debut as a player-coach by partnering and coaching Müller in the doubles, where they reached the second round.

Müller and Delgado's best doubles result was reaching the semifinals of the Tilia Slovenia Challenger.

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 then returned to the ATP World Tour and lost in the second round of both the Moselle and Shenzhen tournaments, to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet respectively.

At the Rakuten Japan Open, he lost in the second round to Gilles Simon. Additionally, Müller and Delgado's final doubles match together was also played at the Rakuten Japan Open as well, after which Delgado subsequently retired from playing to instead concentrate more on coaching Müller, following their defeat in the first round.

Müller lost to Roger Federer in round 1 of the 2014 Swiss Indoors before falling in the qualifying rounds of the Paris Masters. He finished 2014 with a ranking of No. 47 and was elected Luxembourg's Sportsman of the Year.

2015: Steady ranking

Müller commenced 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, also the eventual champion. He then managed to put together his best Australian Open campaign to date, beating Roberto Bautista Agut and John Isner en route to the fourth round, where he lost to world number 1 and eventual champion Novak Djokovic in three competitive sets (4–6, 5–7, 5–7) in the pair's first encounter. His performance during the entire month saw him crack the top 40 for the first time in his career on February 2.

After losing to Ričardas Berankis in his first match in Zagreb, he had another strong showing in Rotterdam, defeating David Goffin and Grigor Dimitrov, before losing to Wawrinka in the quarterfinals again. He then lost his first match in his next three tournaments, in Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami, though he won his two singles and his doubles match in the Davis Cup tie against Madagascar and reached the semifinals of the challenger in Irving. He only played three tournaments during the clay court season, reaching the quarterfinals in Estoril before losing in the first round in Madrid and reaching the second round of the French Open for only the second time in his career, again losing to Novak Djokovic. Since he didn't defend his titles on the challenger tour, he subsequently fell out of the top 50 for the first time of the year on May 11.

Müller had a strong start to the grass court season, reaching the semifinals of the Topshelf Open where he was eventually defeated by David Goffin, in addition to the quarterfinals at Queen's, ousting defending champion Grigor Dimitrov for the second time in two meetings since the beginning of the year, before falling to eventual champion Andy Murray. He carried his good form into Wimbledon, but was drawn against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round and lost in five sets (6–7, 7–6, 4–6, 6–3, 2–6).

His next tournament was Atlanta, where he had reached the semifinals or better in both his previous appearances. He reached the semifinals again, eventually losing to Marcos Baghdatis in three sets (7–6, 3–6, 6–7). Partnering Colin Fleming, he also reached his first ATP World Tour doubles final here, losing to the Bryan brothers (6–4, 6–7, [4–10]) after having beaten second seeds and defending champions Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock in the first round. He then competed at the Citi Open, losing to Richard Gasquet in three sets in the second round, as well as the Rogers Cup, where he reached the third round, defeating Gaël Monfils in round 2 before falling to Andy Murray.

He suffered a couple of first-round exits at the Western & Southern Open and the US Open, but rebounded for a quarterfinals-run at the Moselle Open, falling to Gilles Simon, as well as a semifinals-run at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships also, where he defeated Kevin Anderson and Jérémy Chardy before avenging his loss from the previous week with a 6–3, 6–4, victory over Simon, in the process recording his first top 10 win in two years. He then lost to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka. He would then lose to Gasquet again in the first round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters, but reached another quarterfinal in Stockholm. After losing to eventual champion João Sousa in the first round of the Valencia Open, he withdrew from the BNP Paribas Masters tournament, citing fatigue.

Müller finished the year with a world ranking of No. 38 and was elected Luxembourg's Sportsman of the Year for the second year in the row, with much of Müller's resurgence being attributed to coach Jamie Delgado. However they split at the end of the year, when Delgado instead went on to join Andy Murray's team as his assistant coach.

2016: Career-best year

Müller launched his 2016 campaign as a seeded player at the Aircel Chennai Open, but lost in the second round to qualifier Thomas Fabbiano. He fared better at the Sydney International, where he reached the semifinals for the second year in a row, beating respective up-and-comers Borna Ćorić and Dominic Thiem – who was also the tournament's second seed, as well as extending his domination over Jérémy Chardy to 3–0 before losing to Grigor Dimitrov.

He then competed at the 2016 Australian Open where he would try to defend his 4th round points from last year. He got off to a good start by beating 20th seed Fabio Fognini in four sets. He then suffered a disappointing loss to John Millman in five sets. Müller would next compete at the 2016 Garanti Koza Sofia Open, starting out in the first round against Malek Jaziri. Müller won in straight sets. His second round match was against Ričardas Berankis. It was a closer match but Müller still managed to get through in straight sets. In the quarterfinals he would face 3rd seed Guillermo García-López. He would win his third straight match in straight sets. In the semifinals he played the number 1 seed Roberto Bautista Agut and lost in straight sets.

He then played at the 2016 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, beating Andreas Seppi in his opening match after losing the first set. Following his win over Seppi though, 2nd seed Marin Čilić would oust him in two tiebreaks. Müller next competed at the 2016 Abierto Mexicano Telcel where he suffered a disappointing loss to Donald Young in straight sets. Müller's would subsequently proceed onwards to the 2016 BNP Paribas Open. He started off against Víctor Estrella Burgos and won in straight sets. In the second round he faced 4th seed Rafael Nadal, whom he managed to take a set off of in a losing effort.

Müller's next event was the 2016 Miami Open. He lost in the first round to Fernando Verdasco. Then Müller competed at the 2016 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. He again lost in the first round, this time to Gaël Monfils after having led 5–2 in the opening set. At the French Open, Müller would suffer his third consecutive exit in the first round when he was beaten in straight sets by Marcos Baghdatis.

In the aftermath of Roland Garros, Müller would enter the 2016 Ricoh Open as the 7th seed and snapped a 4 match losing streak by beating Robin Haase in straight sets. He then followed up this win with another win over Guillermo García-López also in straight sets before coming up against the number 1 seed David Ferrer. He won the match in three sets after dropping the first set and advanced to the fourth final of his career by defeating 3rd seed Ivo Karlovic in the semifinals. Müller was looking to win his first ATP final but would lose to the defending champion and 8th seed Nicolas Mahut in straight sets. Müller's next tournament was the 2016 Aegon Championships. He started out against wildcard and local favorite James Ward, winning in straight sets. In the second round Müller played 7th seed John Isner, who hit 43 aces and had 10 match points but still could not prevail. He then played Bernard Tomic in the quarterfinals and lost in three sets.

Müller subsequently played at the 2016 Aegon Open Nottingham, where he was seeded 8th. In round 2 he beat Jiří Veselý in straight sets, after having received a bye in the first round. In the third round he faced Mikhail Youzhny, where he dropped the first set but managed to come back and win in three sets. He defeated 4th seed Alexandr Dolgopolov in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Müller played 2nd seed Pablo Cuevas and lost after winning the first set.

His next tournament was Wimbledon. In the first round he managed to come back from a 2-set deficit to defeat Santiago Giraldo in 5 sets. It was a match that stretched over a period of two days and saw Müller save four match points in the deciding set. He then lost to Andrey Kuznetsov in straight sets in the second round. Müller continued his season on grass by playing at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships where, as the 3rd seed, he defeated Víctor Estrella Burgos in straight sets in the second round. Müller followed this victory up by coming back from a set down to beat 6th seed Adrian Mannarino in the quarterfinals. Müller would then advance to his 5th career ATP final and 2nd of the season with a win over 8th seed Donald Young in straight sets. His next opponent would be 2nd seed Ivo Karlović. Müller won the first set but ultimately lost in three sets after failing to convert any of the 3 match point opportunities that he had.

Müller represented Luxembourg in singles at the 2016 Summer Olympics, winning in the first round against Jerzy Janowicz, then beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round before losing to Roberto Bautista Agut 4–6, 6–7.

At the 2016 Swiss Indoors, Müller knocked out 6th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the first round and reached the semifinals, defeating both Florian Mayer and Federico Delbonis along the way. However, against his semifinal opponent Kei Nishikori, Müller lost in three sets after Nishikori managed to save 2 match points.

2017: First ATP title

Müller started the year with a first-round loss to Jared Donaldson at the Brisbane International. He fared better in doubles, where he reached his second final, partnering Sam Querrey. He next played at the Sydney International where, after seven consecutive final losses over a period of 13 years, he won his first ATP World Tour title. En route to doing so, Müller scored impressive wins over Alexandr Dolgopolov, Matthew Barton and Pablo Cuevas before defeating both two-time defending champion Viktor Troicki and Dan Evans in straight sets, with the latter making his maiden appearance in the final of an ATP tournament.

Davis Cup

Müller has competed in 30 ties since his first nomination in 2000. Out of 71 matches he has won 54 and lost 17, which makes him Luxembourg's most successful Davis Cup player.

Singles: 31 (15 titles, 16 runners-up)

List of titles

Doubles: 10 (4 titles, 6 runners-up)

List of titles

Singles performance timeline

Current till 2017 Dubai Tennis Championships