Muller defeats Gasquet in all-French clash in Lyon

Alexandre Muller maintained his impressive form by taking down a titan of French tennis on Sunday at the Open Parc in Lyon.

The 27-year-old Muller downed his countryman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4 to reach the second round for the first time at the clay-court ATP 250. The 27-year-old last week reached the fourth round as a qualifier in Rome, his best result at an ATP Masters 1000 event, and he picked up where he left off by firing 27 winners past Gasquet in Lyon, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“I’m very happy. It was not easy,” said Muller, who now leads Gasquet 2-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. “I played six matches in Rome and only came back home on Wednesday or Thursday. I’m very happy about my performance today and let’s see what happens the rest of the tournament.”

Muller defeated three Top 50 players — Marton Fucsovics, Arthur Fils and World No. 6 Andrey Rublev — to reach the fourth round in Rome, a run which will on Monday propel him back into the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time since January. The 27-year-old’s next test in Lyon is a second-round clash against Pavel Kotov or a lucky loser.

Aleksandar Vukic was also a straight-sets winner on Sunday in France. The Australian eased past Mackenzie McDonald 6-2, 6-2 on his tournament debut to set a second-round meeting with second seed Alexander Bublik.