London: Top seed and defending champion Rafa Nadal upped his game at the key moments to overcome the spirited challenge of wildcard Gilles Muller 7-6, 7-6, 6-0 and advance to the last 16 at Wimbledon on Saturday.
Muller had wasted two set points in Friday's opening set before the match was called off due rain and went toe to toe with the champion in a high-quality second set on Saturday.
However, Nadal kept his composure on the big points in the tiebreak to break the spirit of the Luxembourger, who knocked the Spaniard out of the competition in 2005.
Nadal then raced through the third set in top gear to complete the win.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, June 25, 2011, 19:55