Former world number 42 Gilles Muller won eight matches in eight days as a qualifier to claim his seventh ATP Challenger Tour title at the Jalisco Open held at Guadalajara’s Polideportivo Metropolitano de Tenis last week.
Muller, a three-time runner-up on the ATP Tour, defeated Denis Kudla of the United States 6-2, 6-2 in the final after ousting top seed Kenny de Schepper earlier in the tournament. It was the Luxembourg native’s first title since 2011 after suffering a stress fracture in his elbow a year later.
Muller took home a first prize of 14,400 dollars, while Kudla pocketed 8,480 dollars.
Said Muller: “It means a lot, because I was injured last year for seven months and I’ve only been playing since mid-January.”The 31-year-old was ranked 42nd in the world in 2011 but slipped to 307th after his injury.
During his career Muller won important victories over Andre Agassi in the semifinals of the 2004 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, over Rafael Nadal in the second round of Wimbledon in 2005, and over Andy Roddick in the first round of the 2005 U.S. Open.
In 2011 he advanced to the fourth round of the U.S. Open, his best showing in a major.
The doubles tournament saw a Mexican partnership take the title for the first time.
Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela and Cesar Ramirez beat Andre Begemann (Germany) and Matthew Ebden (Australia) 6-2, 6-4.