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Gilles Muller has ended the run of Bernard Tomic at the Sydney International with a 7-6 7-6 win in the quarter final.
If you wanted to see a perfect two sets of serving in tennis, you got it tonight on Ken Rosewall Arena.
Muller put on a world class display of serving as he upset the home town favourite.
25 aces, no double faults, 80% of 1st serves in, and just 15 points lost on serve provided Tomic with little to no chance of breaking his opponent.
When Tomic had the chance it would be saved immediately with an easy point from the left hander.
Tomic didn’t play bad tonight. He just failed to capitalise on his chances when he had them.
This included six points in the second set to force the match into a decider.
He now heads to the Australian Open with plenty of confidence after successive quarter finals in Brisbane and Sydney.
If he gets the right draw then he could do some damage.
As for Muller, he is now one of the favourites for the Sydney event.
If he serves like he did tonight, then he will be hard to beat.
He plays Viktor Troicki for a spot in the final.
Bernard Tomic will be looking to continue his good form at the Sydney International when he takes on Gilles Muller for a spot in the semi-finals at Ken Rosewall Arena tonight.
Join The Roar for live scores and commentary of the match from 8:00pm AEDT.
Last night, against Philipp Kohlschreiber, Tomic recorded his 11th win at the Sydney event in his last 12 matches at Homebush.
His 6-3 6-4 win over the German number one continued his impressive run in Sydney. It is Tomic’s third straight quarter final appearance at the event after making the final for the last two years.
Tonight he faces another tough opponent who had an impressive comeback in 2014. Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller went from 368 in the world at the end of 2013 to 47 in the world at the end of last year.
During the year, Muller won five ATP Challenger titles, and made the second round of the Wimbledon Championships.
He continued his form this year with a quarter final appearance at the Chennai event last week.
A win tonight against Tomic would give Muller his first semi-final in the ATP World Tour since the Vienna event in 2012.
Tonight’s battle against Tomic is the second match Muller has played against an Australian this week. On Tuesday, Muller faced Sam Groth, and won in three tight sets against the Victorian. He would favour himself to make it two wins against Australians when he plays Tomic tonight.
Between the two, they have played three times, with Muller winning all contests against Tomic. In 2009 at the Australian Open, Muller ended the debut main draw run of Tomic, with a four set win. In 2011 they faced again at the Nottingham Challenger with Muller winning in straight sets.
The final meeting, in 2012, also went to Muller as he won in Indian Wells in three sets. Plenty has happened since those matches and Tomic is a big chance to win for the first time against Muller.
The key to the match will be the serve. It will dominate the contest tonight.
Both players have a great serve and will win plenty of free points with it.
In the first two matches at Sydney, Muller has served 27 aces, in six sets of tennis.
In comparison, Tomic has served 16 aces in four sets of tennis. The advantage for Tomic will be his movement around the court.
Despite both players being the same height, 193cm tall, Tomic has better mobility around the court than Muller. For Muller it is all about the power of his game. He likes to overpower his rivals off the court.
Tomic needs to make him run today to be any chance of winning. With his new fitness regime, and his improved movement, he should be able to do it. He needs to, to be victorious.
After seeds two, three and seven were eliminated yesterday from the Sydney International, the draw has opened up for Tomic.
He could make the final if he continues his form from the opening two matches. If he is complacent, Muller will capitalise, and beat him for the fourth time in a row.
I favour Tomic though to win the match tonight. His movement has improved considerably and that will trouble Muller.
Tomic will also be playing on one of his favourite courts.
It will be a close match but I predict the Aussie will win to make the semis once again.
PREDICTION – Bernard Tomic 2-1.
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