Defending champion Rafael Nadal reached the Wimbledon last 16 on Saturday with a 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5), 6-0 win over Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.
Nadal will face either Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina or Gilles Simon of France for a place in the quarter-finals.
It was a satisfying win for Nadal, who had lost to Muller in the second round at Wimbledon in 2005, the last time the two had faced each other.
“It was a difficult match,” Nadal said. “I didn’t have a chance to break him. But I’m happy about how I played the tie breaks, especially my serve. So I’m very happy with my performance.”
Remarkably Nadal made only three unforced errors throughout the match, which resumed on Court One after rain halted play following the first set on Friday.
The second set was almost identical to the first, with neither player giving an inch on serve to force a tie-break.
Nadal’s class told in the tie-break however, and he forged into a two-set lead when a Muller backhand into the net gave him a set point at 6/5 which the Spanish world number one duly converted to go 2-0 up.
The tie-break loss shattered Muller’s resolve and Nadal scored three consecutive breaks and held to wrap up the third set 6-0 in only 31 minutes to advance to the next round. — AFP