Australian Matthew Ebden had no answer to Gilles Muller’s dominant serve as he lost his quarter-final to the Luxembourger in straight sets at the ATP’s Atlanta Open on Friday.
Muller didn’t face a break point as he won 32 of his 35 first-serve points and broke Ebden once in each set to win 6-4 6-4 and set up a semi-final against Japan’s Go Soeda.
Perth-based Ebden struck 20 aces in his previous round against James Blake, but was this time on the receiving end as world No.63 Muller took just 72 minutes to wrap up the match.
Muller is bidding to win his first ATP Tour title, with his last final appearance coming in Los Angeles nearly seven years ago.
Soeda upset Olympics doubles partner Kei Nishikori 6-2 6-1 to advance in the first match-up of two players from Japan in an ATP quarter-final since the Open era began in 1968.
In another quarter-final match, fourth seed Andy Roddick defeated Michael Russell 6-3 6-4.
World No.27 Roddick hammered 12 aces and won 82 per cent of his service points as he improved to 3-0 against Russell and converted two of four break points in the match.