The fairytale of Gilles Muller, the qualifier from Luxembourg who made it into the 2008 US tennis Open quarterfinals, ended on September 4 2008 in defeat to world number two Roger Federer.
 
A true inspiration for all young players, former US Open junior champion Muller was the sensation at this year's US Open, surprising everyone by beating Russia's Nikolay Davydenko in the fourth round of the tournament.

Muller had his chances to score another upset against a Federer who is clearly not putting in his best performance at the tournament and is still far away from his top form from last year's season.

Federer's nervousness and lack of confidence was shown in the number of times he asked for the use of the Hawk-Eye computer system that visually tracks the path of the ball and displays a record of its actual path on the court.

The match started well for Muller, but he lost the first set in the tie break. In the second set, Federer managed to break Muller's serve and win by 6-4. The third set was a repeat of the first one with Federer taking the win in the tie break.

It was good outcome for the Swiss former world number one because a fourth set would have meant more pressure on his physical condition ahead of his semifinal game against Serbia's Novak Djokovic, who won against crowd favourite Andy Roddick (6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6).

Federer will play the record 18th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal of his career. He has a total 12 Grand Slam singles titles, but the last time he won one was in last year's US Open.

The other semifinal is between world number one Rafael Nadal and Britain's top player Andy Murray. Nadal reached the semi-final of the US Open for the first time in his career after wining against American Mardy Fish.

Murray advanced to the semifinals after winning against Argentinean Juan Martin Del Potro (7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5). Murray, like Nadal, will play his first ever semi-final at the US Open on September 6.