12 July,2017 08:37 AM IST | London | PA Sport
Rafael Nadal called his epic five-set defeat by Gilles Muller a lost opportunity
Spain's Rafael Nadal. Pic/AFP
Rafael Nadal called his epic five-set defeat by Gilles Muller a "lost opportunity".
The two-time Wimbledon champion clearly had his eyes on a third title despite his recent early exits from the championships.
But Muller stunned the Spaniard, and a disbelieving Court One, by triumphing 15-13 in a marathon fifth set which lasted two and a quarter hours.
"I lost in the fourth round. That's not the result that I was expecting," said Nadal. "It's true that I played some good matches, but at the same time it's true that I didn't want to lose that match.
"So is tough to analyse that in a positive way right now. I won matches. I played better than other years, true. At the same time I was ready for important things, so I lost an opportunity."
Muller, the 16th seed from Luxembourg, was the first player to beat a raw Nadal at Wimbledon back in 2005. Muller, who face Croatia's Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals, said: "I just tried to hang in there. Rafa stepped it up in the third and the fourth sets. Then I just told myself 'just hang in there and you're going to get your chances'.
"I got a few of them - I didn't take the first ones. But I still kept believing and somehow in the end I made it. It's definitely my biggest win, I would say."
