37-year-old Frenchman Gilles Simon announced his plan to retire at the Rolex Paris Masters months ago. Many expected Simon’s appearance in Paris would be brief and celebratory, honoring the career of one of the greats to come out of the French Tennis Federation. The Rolex Paris Masters is no ordinary tournament; it marks the end of the season, which brings in the world’s best. 35 of the top 37 ranked players in the world were in this year’s field, so no one gave current World No. 188 Simon a shot to compete.
In a serendipitous end to a wonderful career, Simon is once again proving the doubters wrong.
Gilles Simon at the 2022 Paris Masters
A week to remember
During his first-round match against Andy Murray, Simon trailed 3-5 in the second set, a game away from a close on his career. As he has done for the last 20 years, Simon dug his heels in and battled his way to a 4-6 7-5 6-3 victory over Murray. It was just his third victory over Murray in 19 career matchups.
Although you could convince the masses that Simon could overcome Murray, his second-round match against American Taylor Fritz was another challenge entirely. Fritz, the current World No. 11, excels on indoor hard courts with his powerful serve and groundstrokes. On top of that, a deep run in Paris would help Fritz reach his first career Nitto ATP Finals.
Simon postponed Fritz’s first trip to the ATP Finals as he bested the American 7-5 5-7 6-4 in one of the best matches of the day in Paris. He displayed his vintage cat-and-mouse style of tennis, forcing the young American to hit ball after ball until he became frustrated. After Fritz came back from a break down to take the second set 7-5, many thought (including myself) that Simon’s legs would give way in the decider.
In typical Gilles Simon fashion, the opposite happened.
The Frenchman locked himself onto the baseline, tracking down every Fritz groundstroke. The only way the American was going to win a point was with a line-scraping shot. Simon was eventually able to break through and serve out the win over the World No. 11. If you can believe it, it was just his third win over a top-11 ranked opponent since April of 2016.
What’s next?
The victory moves Simon into the Rolex Paris Masters Round of 16, a place he had not been since 2016. He matches up against the most in-form player on tour, Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian holds the 2-0 head-to-head advantage over Simon, having won both encounters in straight sets. With that said, I would not be surprised to see the magic of Simon continue on day four. The match is scheduled for 3:00 PM local time on Thursday.
Simon’s supporters, including Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, and thousands of the French faithful, will continue to help him in what has turned into a storybook ending on a fantastic career.
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