ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament,                         The Netherlands

[CR11] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) vs. [CR37] Gilles Muller (LUX)

Muller has the game that can trouble opponents; however, he is usually too inconsistent to threaten the top players if they are playing with confidence.  Unfortunately, Dimitrov has been struggling; perhaps the weight of expectation is too much. His performance has dropped off significantly in recent months. His game is now marred by more errors than winners and his attention fluctuates drastically during matches.  He survived his match against [CR96] Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA), but there was no escaping today.

Muller is riding a wave of confidence and seems to have made the commitment this season to try to win his first tour title.  He has cut down significantly on his errors and is staying in the points a lot longer.  He has always had a big serve and is now beginning to realize that he can take advantage of that weapon.  He is playing with renewed motivation and in matches where you normally expect him to wilt, he has stayed focused and determined.  He moves on to the next round with a 6-2, 7-6(8) victory over Dimitrov and will probably meet [CR8] Stan Wawrinka (SUI), who narrowly escaped being ousted in the second round.