WATCH | Wimbledon: Gilles Muller goes from journeyman to Nadal-slayer in just under five hours

This time last year Gilles Muller was an unheralded 33-year-old journeyman from Luxembourg without a single title on the ATP Tour. One of the many men who travel the world, playing in the less noticed tournaments, picking up the more modest appearance fees, Muller’s record and age suggested he would end his career as barely a footnote in the annals of the sport.

His second round appearance at the All England Club last year was barely noticed, understandably for a player who had made the last eight at a grand slam event just once in his career – at the US Open in 2008. On Monday though, the left-hander produced one of the most memorable upsets in the history of Wimbledon — beating 15-times grand slam winner Rafael Nadal in an astonishing 6-3 6-4 3-6 4-6 15-13 battle that lasted four hours and 48 minutes.

Muller puts his delayed emergence down to a 2013 elbow injury that, almost threatened his career, kept him off the courts and let him work on fitness and other aspects of his game. “This is definitely the biggest victory since then, since I came back, especially at that stage of a grand slam, playing one of the …read more