Gilles Simon
Encyclopedia
Gilles Simon is a French professional tennis player and former world no. 6. He is a nine-time winner on the ATP World Tour. His coach is French tennis veteran Thierry Tulasne
, and his fitness trainer is Paul Quetin.
, France, into a family with no involvement in sport, his mother being a doctor and his father working in insurance. Supported by his parents, he started playing tennis at the age of 6. Due to a growth delay that runs in the family, he was shorter than most kids his age during his early teenage years. This is the reason he cites Michael Chang
as a major influence, as his comparatively small frame proved that size was not an important factor in playing tennis.
On September 2, 2010, Simon became a father for the first time. His partner Carine Lauret gave birth to a baby boy. The couple named their first child Timothée. Timothée was born four weeks ahead of schedule, when Simon was competing in the 2010 US Open
.
, Portugal, in June 2003, and he reached the quarterfinals of three other tournaments. He then captured his second title in Jamaica
in September. During 2004, he saw three wins in France and another in Algeria
.
In January 2005, he won his first ATP Challenger
hard court tournament in Nouméa
, New Caledonia
, and defended it the following year. Ranked as world no. 113, Simon made his Grand Slam
debut at the 2005 French Open
, losing in the first round to Olivier Patience
in four sets.
Simon competed at the first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open
, where he beat Nicolás Massú
and Tomáš Berdych
before being defeated by No. 13 Thomas Johansson
in the third round. After his result in the tournament, he broke into the top 100 for the first time, climbing to no. 89.
The Frenchman reached his first ATP Tour
final in Valencia
with wins over Andreas Seppi
in the quarterfinal and Fernando Verdasco
in the semifinal, but lost to Nicolás Almagro
, 6–2, 6–3. He also made it to the semifinals in Casablanca
, as well as the round of 16 in both the ATP Masters Series
tournaments in Monte Carlo and Hamburg
. At the end of the year Simon was ranked 45th in the world.
in, Marseille, France. En route to the final, Simon beat Lleyton Hewitt
, Jonas Björkman
, and Robin Söderling
. In the final, Simon defeated Marcus Baghdatis, 6–4, 7–6.
In September, he won his second title of the year and of his career at the BCR Open Romania in Bucharest, Romania. He defeated Victor Hănescu
in the final, 4–6, 6–3, 6–2. He broke into the top 30 for the first time on November 5 and finished the year as no. 29 in the world. By the end of the year, his career record against top-10 players was 4–5.
, 6–2, 6–7, 6–3, in the second round. He reached the semifinals in Rotterdam
the next week.
In May, he entered Casablanca
as a qualifier due to his late entry to the tournament, even though his ranking was high enough to be seeded. Simon went on to win the tournament by defeating Julien Benneteau
, 7–5, 6–2, in the final. After his third-round loss to countryman Richard Gasquet
at Wimbledon
, Simon left Europe for the United States to familiarize himself with the hard courts before the U.S. Open Series. He competed in the Indianapolis Tennis Championships and hit a career-best no. 25. He beat Tommy Haas
and Sam Querrey
before reaching the final. He won the tournament by beating the defending champion Dmitry Tursunov
in straight sets, 6–4, 6–4.
The following week, he competed at the Rogers Cup
in Toronto
, including a 2–6, 7–5, 6–4 win over world no. 1 Roger Federer
in the second round, before losing in the semifinals to German veteran Nicolas Kiefer
. This resulted in an entry into the top 15, three ranks behind the French no. 1, Richard Gasquet
.
Simon participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics
in Beijing
, playing in the singles for France alongside Paul-Henri Mathieu
, Michaël Llodra
, and Gaël Monfils
. He played doubles with Monfils, but lost in the first round to the Indian team of Bhupathi and Paes. In singles the Frenchman reached the third round, with victories over the Swede Robin Söderling
and the Argentine Guillermo Cañas
before falling to James Blake
.
At the US Open, Simon was seeded number 16. On day 6, he lost in the third round to the 17th seed Juan Martín del Potro
, 4–6, 7–6, 1–6, 6–3, 3–6, in a five-set match that lasted 3 hours and 47 minutes.
On September 14, Simon won his third title of the year and fifth ATP title, defeating Carlos Moyà
, 6–3, 6–4 at the 2008 BCR Open Romania
. Simon entered the 2008 Madrid Masters the following month, defeating no. 11 James Blake
and no. 14 Ivo Karlović
to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, he defeated world no. 1 Rafael Nadal
in three sets, 3–6, 7–5, 7–6, in a match that lasted 3 hours and 23 minutes. Simon lost the final to world no.4 Andy Murray in straight sets, 4–6, 6–7. The tournament boosted Simon to a career-high world no. 10, displacing Richard Gasquet
as French no. 1. By the end of 2008, French had four players in the top 20, (Simon, Tsonga, Gasquet, and Monfils), for the first time since computer ranking was established in 1973. The French paper L'Equipe
grouped the four player as néo-Mousquetaires
. French TV Canal+ went on to produce a documentary series that followed the four French players and their touring around the world. The series "Les 4 Mousquetaires" went on the air for two seasons during 2009 and 2010.
On November 3, he qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup
, a tournament usually reserved for the world's top eight players in Shanghai, after Rafael Nadal
withdrew due to knee complications and fatigue. He was drawn in the red group with Roger Federer
, Andy Murray, and Andy Roddick
. In his first round-robin match, he beat defending champion Federer with a score of 4–6, 6–4, 6–3. Simon lost to Murray in his next match, 6–4, 6–2, but followed it with a victory over Radek Štěpánek
, who replaced the injured Roddick, 6–1, 6–4. After Murray defeated Federer in the final round-robin match, Simon qualified for the semifinals, where he lost to world no. 3 Novak Djokovic
in three sets, 4–6, 6–3, 7–5. After this, he achieved a career high of world no. 7.
In December, he played in the newly-formed Masters France
exhibition tournament for the eight French players who had performed best at the four French tournaments. He qualified from the round-robin
group stage with victories against Julien Benneteau
, Marc Gicquel
, and Josselin Ouanna
. In the final against Michaël Llodra
, Llodra pulled out with a shoulder injury, resulting in Simon's becoming the inaugural winner of the tournament.
Simon started the year off rising to a new career high of world no. 6 and played at the Hopman Cup
, teaming up with compatriot Alizé Cornet
to form the French mixed doubles duo.
Simon played at the first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open
, as the sixth seed, winning against Pablo Andújar
in the first round. He also competed with Jérémy Chardy
as his partner in the doubles, but the pair was defeated by Daniel Nestor
and Nenad Zimonjić
in the first round. The second round saw him beat Chris Guccione
in four sets, 6–7, 6–4, 6–1, 6–2. He defeated Mario Ančić
in the third round, winning in straight sets, advancing to his fourth-round encounter with compatriot Gaël Monfils
. Simon was leading in the first two sets before Monfils retired due to a wrist injury. He then played world no. 1 Rafael Nadal
in the quarterfinals, where he was dispatched, 2–6, 5–7, 5–7, although he had two set points in the second set.
He participated in the Davis Cup
with other French team members Michaël Llodra
, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Richard Gasquet
. The team competed against the Czech Republic
from 6–8 March. Simon lost, 7–6, 4–6, 7–6, 6–3 to Tomáš Berdych
, and then played Radek Štěpánek
(whom his fellow team member Tsonga beat). Simon lost to Štěpánek, 6–7, 3–6, 6–7, which gave the Czechs a 3–1 lead, and France was out of the Davis Cup in the first round for the first time since 2000.
He went into the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami ranked no. 7 in the world. After early round wins over former world no. 1 Lleyton Hewitt
and Rainer Schüttler
, he lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round, 7–6, 3–6, 2–6. Simon competed at the Monte Carlo Masters against Andreas Beck
in the men's singles, suffering a first-round loss of 5–7, 1–6. This result caused his world ranking to drop 2 spots down to no.9.
Simon played at the Estoril Open
as the top seed, before losing to Albert Montañés
, 7–5, 4–6, 6–7, in the third round. He competed with fellow players Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Jérémy Chardy
, forming the French team at the ARAG World Team Cup in Düsseldorf
. He lost to Robin Söderling
and Rainer Schüttler
.
He entered Roland Garros as the seventh seed and defeated Wayne Odesnik
in five sets in the first round, and Robert Kendrick
in straight sets. He was ousted by Victor Hănescu
in the third round, 4–6, 4–6, 2–6. During his third-round match, he also injured his right knee. Although he managed to finish the match, this knee injury would turned into a chronic problem that bothered him for a long time.
Simon competed at the AEGON Championships at Queens as the third seed, where he beat Grigor Dimitrov
, but lost to Mikhail Youzhny
in the third round. At 2009 Wimbledon, Simon was the eighth seed. He defeated Bobby Reynolds
and Thiago Alves
in the first two rounds. He defeated Victor Hănescu
in the third round with a comfortable 6–2, 7–5, 6–2 victory. He was ousted in the fourth round by unseeded Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero
, 6–7, 3–6, 2–6.
Simon was the top seed at Stuttgart's MercedesCup and defeated Philipp Petzschner
in the first round in straight sets before falling to Mischa Zverev
, 3–6, 2–6. At the 2009 International German Open
, after receiving a bye in the first round, he lost to wildcard Daniel Brands
, 6–3, 4–6, 3–6.
During the 2009 US Open Series
, he played at the 2009 Rogers Cup
where he lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round. One week later, he played at the 2009 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open
in Cincinnati, where he defeated Nikolay Davydenko
en route to the quarterfinals, where he would lose to world no. 4 Novak Djokovic
. At the 2009 US Open, Simon equalled his best result of third round before retiring with a right knee injury during his third-round match against Juan Carlos Ferrero
.
Simon then won his first title of 2009 at the 2009 PTT Thailand Open
, where he defeated Viktor Troicki
in the final, 7–5, 6–3. In Tokyo
, Simon was third seeded, but fell to Mikhail Youzhny
in the second round. A week later he played at the Shanghai Masters
as the eight seed and received a bye in the first round. He beat Viktor Troicki and Tomáš Berdych
, but lost to Novak Djokovic
in the quarterfinals, 3–6, 6–2, 2–6.
Simon returned to France to play in Lyon
and lost in the semifinal to Michaël Llodra
, 7–6, 3–6, 6–7. At the next tournament in Valencia, he lost to Mikhail Youzhny
in the quarterfinal. He continued to Bercy to play at the BNP Paribas Masters. He was seeded 11th and had a first-round bye. In the second round, he faced Ivan Ljubičić
, whom he had never beaten in three previous meetings. In the third set of the match, Simon has a break point to go up 4–2. While lunging to return a wide serve, he aggravated a right knee injury that has been bothering him for half of the 2009 season. Although with his movement severely hampered, Simon decided to play on to finish the match in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. He went on to win the match, 6–3, 3–6, 7–6. Two days later, he played his R3 match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and lost, 2–6, 3–6.
In an interview during the Paris tournament, Simon said that the doctor had recommended that he take at least two months to recover from his knee injury.
in Adelaide. It started badly for him, as he struggled with injury. He lost three straight matches, including to the home favourite Bernard Tomic
. Simon pulled out of the Australian Open due to his knee injury. He did not make any appearances in the 2010 season until mid-February, at the 2010 Open 13
tournament in Marseille. As the fifth seed, he lost in the first round to Olivier Rochus
, 5–7, 2–6 in Marseille. He then participated in the 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships
as the eighth seed, but lost in the first round to Marcos Baghdatis
, 6–7, 4–6. Continuing to struggle, he lost to Brian Dabul, 5–7, 4–6, in the second round of the 2010 BNP Paribas Open
Masters 1000 in Indian Wells. He also lost to Horacio Zeballos in the second round of the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open
.
The right knee injury eventually caused Simon to miss the entire spring European clay season, including the French Open. He returned to the tour in mid-June, winning two rounds in Eastbourne before losing to Michaël Llodra
, 1–6, 3–6, in the quarterfinals. Continued on to 2010 Wimbledon, Simon reached the third round before losing to Andy Murray, 1–6, 4–6, 4–6. He began the summer US hard court season by participating in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic
in Washington, D.C. and won two rounds of matches, including a win over top 10 player Andy Roddick
. He lost in the quarterfinals to David Nalbandian
in three sets. However, he suffered first-round defeats in his next two ATP Masters 1000 series tournaments, the 2010 Rogers Cup
in Toronto and the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open
in Cincinnati, showing that he still had a long way to go to return to his top form and regain his confidence. He moved on to New York to take part in US Open
, reaching the thirdround by defeating Donald Young in three sets and Philipp Kohlschreiber
in five sets. He went on to meet the no. 1 player Rafael Nadal
in the third round. Before the match, upon hearing about the birth of Simon's son, Nadal jokingly offered to buy Simon a flight ticket back to Europe to see his son before the match. Simon stayed, and lost to Rafael Nadal in three sets.
After the US Open, Simon was picked to represent France in the semifinal of the Davis Cup because Tsonga was unavailable due to injury. He did not play any live rubber, but defeated Eduardo Schwank in a dead rubber, 7–6, 6–7, 6–3.
Simon then entered 2010 Open de Moselle
as a wildcard. Originally, he did not plan to play the tournament because his son was supposed to be due that week. He took his newly extended family to Metz
and eventually won the tournament by beating Mischa Zverev
, 6–3, 6–2, in the final. This was his seventh career title, coming only weeks after the birth of his first child. During the award ceremony, he thanked his girlfriend for the support and called the victory a "family effort."
The rest of 2010 was more ups and downs, indicating that after returning from the serious knee injury, he was still struggling to find his consistency. He went on to participate in two Asian tournaments. He beat Sam Querrey
and Michael Berrer
to reach the quarterfinals of the China Open
in Beijing, but lost to Djokovic in two relatively easy sets. He then crashed out at the first round of the Shanghai Masters to Stanislas Wawrinka
in two sets. After Asia, he returned to France to play Open Sud de France in Montpellier. During his second-round encounter, he was down a set and a break to David Nalbandian
before fighting back to even the match at one all. He was then down a break again before coming back to beat the seeded player in three sets. He eventually lost in the quraterfinals to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in three sets. The next tournament was the Valencia Open 500, where Simon beat two seeds (Fernando Verdasco
and Nikolay Davydenko
) en route to his semifinal appearance, only to lose to the Spanish qualifier Marcel Granollers
in two sets. At the last tournament of the season, BNP Paribas Masters, Simon again came from behind to beat newcomer Andrey Golubev
in three sets during their first-round encounter. However, in the seoncd round, after failing to convert numerous breakpoints in the beginning of set 1, a set that he eventually lost, Simon faded and lost the second set to the eventual title winner Robin Söderling
in two easy sets.
In December 2010, Simon was picked to play the Davis Cup
final for France, which was hosted in Belgrade, Serbia. The final was filled with controversies over which player was to be called on to play each match. France called on Simon to play Novak Djokovic
in day 1, while others were expecting Michaël Llodra
to play, based on Llodra's good form in the BNP Paribas Masters (including beating Djokovic in two sets). Simon lost the match in three sets. When France won the doubles and led 2–1 going into day 3, the French team seemed to be on its way to yet another Davis Cup victory. But day 3 opened with Djokovic in strong form defeating Monfils in three easy sets, leaving the championship to a deciding fifth match. The schedule originally stated that the fifth match was to be played by Janko Tipsarević
and Simon. Last-minute replacement saw both replaced by their teammates Viktor Troicki
and Michaël Llodra respectively. The fifth match ended in anti-climatic fashion with an overwhelming victory for Troicki in three sets. Serbia won the Davis Cup for the first time in history. France's defeat caused some to question the choice of Llodra to play Troicki when Simon has a 4–0 head-to-head record against the Serb. Nevertheless, everyone agrees that Troicki and the Serbian team had displayed convincing performances over their French opponent, and the victory was well deserved.
, Sydney
, and the Australian Open
. He lost in the first round of Brisbane to Santiago Giraldo
, 3–6, 3–6. One week later, he beat Alexandr Dolgopolov and Ernests Gulbis
in the quarterfinals and semifinals and then captured his eighth title by defeating Viktor Troicki
, 7–5, 7–6, in the final of the Sydney International. In the Australian Open, he lost to Roger Federer
in the second round in a five-set match, 2–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 3–6. Simon went on to defeat Nicolás Almagro 6–4, 4–6, 6–4 in Hamburg, capturing the most important title (in terms of ATP Rankings) of his career to date.
Simon reached the fourth round of Roland Garros
but lost to Robin Soderling
6-2, 6-3, 7-6(7-5). At Wimbledon
, he lost to Juan Martín del Potro
in the third round 7-6(10-8), 7-6(7-5), 7-5.
At the US Open
, he advanced to the fourth round by defeating Ricardo Mello
, Guillermo García-López, and Juan Martin del Potro
in the third round in four sets, 4–6, 7–67–5, 6–2, 7–67–3. He lost to John Isner
in the fourth round, 7-67-2, 3-6, 7-67-2, 7-67-4.
As his career kicked off in 2008, Simon began to work tirelessly on his volleys and net-game, and this has since come to form a prominent part of his game. Nowadays, he looks to sneak in and finish points off at the net whenever he can, and he often enjoys serving and volleying or rushing to the net off the return to break up his opponent's rhythm on break points and important points in general.
While his return is one of the best parts of his game, his serve has also become a pivotal part of his game, and he often manages to find his best serves on the biggest points. In general, Simon is often overlooked in an era filled with powerful players and big servers. However, he is a unique player with countless layers to his game. When lacking confidence, he has a tendency to retreat behind the baseline and play passively. However, when he is confident and lucid, he is a force to behold.
, a brand which he has endorsed.
His racquet is strung with Head IntelliTour 16 String. He is sponsored by Adidas
.
.
Thierry Tulasne
Thierry Tulasne is a former tennis player from France, who won five singles titles during his professional career. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on August 4, 1986, when he became number 10 in the world. After his retirement, he has coached players such as Sébastien Grosjean and...
, and his fitness trainer is Paul Quetin.
Personal life
Simon was born in NiceNice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, France, into a family with no involvement in sport, his mother being a doctor and his father working in insurance. Supported by his parents, he started playing tennis at the age of 6. Due to a growth delay that runs in the family, he was shorter than most kids his age during his early teenage years. This is the reason he cites Michael Chang
Michael Chang
Michael Te-Pei Chang is a former American professional tennis player. He is best remembered for becoming the youngest-ever male player to win a Grand Slam singles title when he won the French Open in 1989 at the age of 17....
as a major influence, as his comparatively small frame proved that size was not an important factor in playing tennis.
On September 2, 2010, Simon became a father for the first time. His partner Carine Lauret gave birth to a baby boy. The couple named their first child Timothée. Timothée was born four weeks ahead of schedule, when Simon was competing in the 2010 US Open
2010 US Open (tennis)
The 2010 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 30 to September 13, 2010 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City, United States....
.
Early career
Simon began his professional tennis career in the summer of 2002, competing at multiple Futures tournaments in France before playing in tournaments outside the country of his birth. His first Futures title came in LisbonLisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal, in June 2003, and he reached the quarterfinals of three other tournaments. He then captured his second title in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
in September. During 2004, he saw three wins in France and another in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
.
In January 2005, he won his first ATP Challenger
ATP Challenger Series
The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments...
hard court tournament in Nouméa
Nouméa
Nouméa is the capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians,...
, New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, and defended it the following year. Ranked as world no. 113, Simon made his Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
debut at the 2005 French Open
2005 French Open
The 2005 French Open was the 104th edition of the tournament. Rafael Nadal, seeded fourth in his first French Open, was a strong favorite after winning the Rome and Monte Carlo Masters, with Guillermo Coria, a 2004 finalist and runner-up in Monaco, calling Nadal the best clay-court player in the...
, losing in the first round to Olivier Patience
Olivier Patience
Olivier Patience is a French professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking was No. 87, on 19 July 2004. During 2006, Patience won 3 ATP Challenger Series tournaments. He registered his best performance in a Grand Slam event to date, when he reached the 3rd round at Roland Garros...
in four sets.
2006
2006 Australian Open
The 2006 Australian Open was played between 16 and 29 January 2006.- Leadup :Several leading men's players declined to attend the Open due to injury, including Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal and defending champion Marat Safin....
, where he beat Nicolás Massú
Nicolás Massú
Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried , nicknamed Vampiro , is a Chilean tennis player, a former world number nine in singles, and a two-time Olympic gold medalist...
and Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters in 2005...
before being defeated by No. 13 Thomas Johansson
Thomas Johansson
Karl Thomas Conny Johansson , commonly known as Thomas Johansson, is a former Swedish professional tennis player. He is a former Australian Open singles champion and Olympic silver medalist in doubles.-Junior career:...
in the third round. After his result in the tournament, he broke into the top 100 for the first time, climbing to no. 89.
The Frenchman reached his first ATP Tour
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
final in Valencia
Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana
The Valencia Open 500, formerly known as Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana, is a professional tennis tournament played in Valencia, Spain. It is currently part of the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. The tournament was first played in Valencia in 1995 before moving to Marbella, Spain for...
with wins over Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi is a professional tennis player from South Tyrol, northern Italy, who turned professional in 2000. He considers clay and hard courts his favourite surfaces. and is coached by Massimo Sartori....
in the quarterfinal and Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona is a professional tennis player. He is currently ranked no. 22 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight...
in the semifinal, but lost to Nicolás Almagro
Nicolás Almagro
Nicolas Almagro Sanchez Rolle is a professional Spanish tennis player, ranked 10 on the ATP World Tour.-2005:...
, 6–2, 6–3. He also made it to the semifinals in Casablanca
Grand Prix Hassan II
The Grand Prix Hassan II is an annual tennis tournament on the ATP Tour and is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series. The event is held annually at the Complexe Al Amal in Casablanca, Morocco and is played on clay courts. Between 1986 and 1989 it was part of the Challenger...
, as well as the round of 16 in both the ATP Masters Series
ATP Masters Series
The ATP Masters Series was a series of nine tennis tournaments that formed part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America...
tournaments in Monte Carlo and Hamburg
Hamburg Masters
The German Open Hamburg, established in 1892, is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Hamburg, Germany and part of the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. Originally a Grand Prix Tennis Tour event between 1978 and 1989 it was part of the Grand Prix Championship...
. At the end of the year Simon was ranked 45th in the world.
2007
At the beginning of the year, Simon won his first ATP title at the Open 13Open 13
The Open 13 is an annual men's tennis tournament played in Marseille, France. The tournament is an ATP World Tour 250 series event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. It is held for one week in February...
in, Marseille, France. En route to the final, Simon beat Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...
, Jonas Björkman
Jonas Björkman
Jonas Lars Björkman is a former World Number 4 Swedish professional tennis player. He is also a former World No. 1 in doubles. Björkman retired from professional tennis after competing at the 2008 Tennis Masters Cup Doubles championships....
, and Robin Söderling
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked number 13 in the ATP rankings. Söderling reached successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010...
. In the final, Simon defeated Marcus Baghdatis, 6–4, 7–6.
In September, he won his second title of the year and of his career at the BCR Open Romania in Bucharest, Romania. He defeated Victor Hănescu
Victor Hanescu
Victor Hănescu is a Romanian tennis player. He achieved his career high rank of no. 26 on July 6, 2009.- Professional career :...
in the final, 4–6, 6–3, 6–2. He broke into the top 30 for the first time on November 5 and finished the year as no. 29 in the world. By the end of the year, his career record against top-10 players was 4–5.
2008
Simon reached the quarterfinals in Marseille, defeating world no. 3 Novak DjokovicNovak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
, 6–2, 6–7, 6–3, in the second round. He reached the semifinals in Rotterdam
ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
The ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the 500 series of the ATP Tour...
the next week.
In May, he entered Casablanca
Grand Prix Hassan II
The Grand Prix Hassan II is an annual tennis tournament on the ATP Tour and is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series. The event is held annually at the Complexe Al Amal in Casablanca, Morocco and is played on clay courts. Between 1986 and 1989 it was part of the Challenger...
as a qualifier due to his late entry to the tournament, even though his ranking was high enough to be seeded. Simon went on to win the tournament by defeating Julien Benneteau
Julien Benneteau
Julien Benneteau is a professional male tennis player from France. His career-best singles ranking is ATP world no. 32, which he reached in July 2010. He formerly resided in Boulogne Billancourt and now lives in Geneva...
, 7–5, 6–2, in the final. After his third-round loss to countryman Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet is a French professional tennis player. He won the mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the 2004 French Open, partnering Tatiana Golovin. His highest ranking in singles is #7. His best achievements in tennis are reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2007 and later that year...
at Wimbledon
2008 Wimbledon Championships
The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 122nd edition of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand Slam event of the year...
, Simon left Europe for the United States to familiarize himself with the hard courts before the U.S. Open Series. He competed in the Indianapolis Tennis Championships and hit a career-best no. 25. He beat Tommy Haas
Tommy Haas
Tommy Haas is a German and recently naturalized American professional tennis player. He has competed on the ATP Tour since 1996. After breaking into the world top 100 in 1997, and reaching a career-high ranking of world no...
and Sam Querrey
Sam Querrey
Sam Austin Querrey is a professional American tennis player from Thousand Oaks, California currently living in Las Vegas, Nevada. As of August 2010, he is the fourth-highest ranked American. His career high rank was #17, achieved on January 31, 2011. His height allows him to play with a strong...
before reaching the final. He won the tournament by beating the defending champion Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov is a Russian professional male tennis player. He was 12 years old when he came to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player....
in straight sets, 6–4, 6–4.
Canada Masters
The Canada Masters , currently sponsored as the Rogers Cup, is an annual tennis tournament held in Canada. The men's competition is a Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. The women's competition is a Premier 5 tournament on the Women's Tennis Association tour...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, including a 2–6, 7–5, 6–4 win over world no. 1 Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
in the second round, before losing in the semifinals to German veteran Nicolas Kiefer
Nicolas Kiefer
Nicolas Kiefer , is a former German professional tennis player. His mother, Nicole, is French. He won a silver medal in men's doubles with partner Rainer Schüttler at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens....
. This resulted in an entry into the top 15, three ranks behind the French no. 1, Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet is a French professional tennis player. He won the mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the 2004 French Open, partnering Tatiana Golovin. His highest ranking in singles is #7. His best achievements in tennis are reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2007 and later that year...
.
Simon participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, playing in the singles for France alongside Paul-Henri Mathieu
Paul-Henri Mathieu
Paul-Henri Mathieu is a French tennis player.-Tennis career:Mathieu was born in Strasbourg, France. He first began playing tennis at age 3, with his older brother Pierre-Yves. Between 1997 and 2000 he trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida...
, Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra is a French professional tennis player. He is a prolific doubles player with three Grand Slam championships, and has also had success in singles.-Life and career:...
, and Gaël Monfils
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open.-2002:In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the...
. He played doubles with Monfils, but lost in the first round to the Indian team of Bhupathi and Paes. In singles the Frenchman reached the third round, with victories over the Swede Robin Söderling
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked number 13 in the ATP rankings. Söderling reached successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010...
and the Argentine Guillermo Cañas
Guillermo Cañas
Guillermo Ignacio Cañas , often referred to as Willy Cañas, is a retired Argentine professional tennis player. He was born in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, and named after Argentine tennis star Guillermo Vilas. His highest singles ranking was 8th . After retirement Cañas took on coaching, he...
before falling to James Blake
James Blake
James Riley Blake is an American professional tennis player. Blake is known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. As of August 2011, Blake is ranked no. 63 among active male players with 24 career finals appearances...
.
At the US Open, Simon was seeded number 16. On day 6, he lost in the third round to the 17th seed Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro is an Argentine professional tennis player. Del Potro achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on October 6, 2008. In January 2010, he reached a career-high ranking of world no. 4...
, 4–6, 7–6, 1–6, 6–3, 3–6, in a five-set match that lasted 3 hours and 47 minutes.
On September 14, Simon won his third title of the year and fifth ATP title, defeating Carlos Moyà
Carlos Moyá
Carlos Moya Llompart is a retired former world no. 1 tennis player from Spain. He was the French Open singles champion in 1998 and was the singles runner-up at the 1997 Australian Open. In 2004, he helped his country win the Davis Cup. He currently resides in Switzerland...
, 6–3, 6–4 at the 2008 BCR Open Romania
2008 BCR Open Romania
The 2008 BCR Open Romania was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 16th edition of the event known that year as the BCR Open Romania, and was part of the International Series of the 2008 ATP Tour. It took place at the Arenele BNR in Bucharest, Romania, from September 8...
. Simon entered the 2008 Madrid Masters the following month, defeating no. 11 James Blake
James Blake
James Riley Blake is an American professional tennis player. Blake is known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. As of August 2011, Blake is ranked no. 63 among active male players with 24 career finals appearances...
and no. 14 Ivo Karlović
Ivo Karlovic
Ivo Karlović is a Croatian tennis player. He has won four ATP singles titles: three in 2007 and one in 2008. Karlović is the tallest player ever on the ATP Tour at 208 cm . He is a serve-and-volleyer, Karlovic holds the fastest serve recorded in professional tennis, measured at 251 km/h ...
to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, he defeated world no. 1 Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
in three sets, 3–6, 7–5, 7–6, in a match that lasted 3 hours and 23 minutes. Simon lost the final to world no.4 Andy Murray in straight sets, 4–6, 6–7. The tournament boosted Simon to a career-high world no. 10, displacing Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet is a French professional tennis player. He won the mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the 2004 French Open, partnering Tatiana Golovin. His highest ranking in singles is #7. His best achievements in tennis are reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2007 and later that year...
as French no. 1. By the end of 2008, French had four players in the top 20, (Simon, Tsonga, Gasquet, and Monfils), for the first time since computer ranking was established in 1973. The French paper L'Equipe
L'Équipe
L'Équipe is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sports, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of football , rugby, motorsports and cycling...
grouped the four player as néo-Mousquetaires
The Four Musketeers
The Four Musketeers, after a popular 1920s film adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic, were French tennis players who dominated the game in the second half of the 1920s and early 1930s, winning 20 Grand Slam titles and 23 Grand Slam doubles...
. French TV Canal+ went on to produce a documentary series that followed the four French players and their touring around the world. The series "Les 4 Mousquetaires" went on the air for two seasons during 2009 and 2010.
On November 3, he qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup
Tennis Masters Cup
The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is a tennis tournament played at the end of each year, involving the top eight players in the men's tennis world rankings....
, a tournament usually reserved for the world's top eight players in Shanghai, after Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
withdrew due to knee complications and fatigue. He was drawn in the red group with Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
, Andy Murray, and Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....
. In his first round-robin match, he beat defending champion Federer with a score of 4–6, 6–4, 6–3. Simon lost to Murray in his next match, 6–4, 6–2, but followed it with a victory over Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štepánek
Radek Štěpánek is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic.-Career:Štěpánek turned professional in 1997. He started on tour as a doubles specialist, winning 12 ATP titles. Since 2002, Štěpánek has focused on being a better singles player while still playing top-level doubles...
, who replaced the injured Roddick, 6–1, 6–4. After Murray defeated Federer in the final round-robin match, Simon qualified for the semifinals, where he lost to world no. 3 Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
in three sets, 4–6, 6–3, 7–5. After this, he achieved a career high of world no. 7.
In December, he played in the newly-formed Masters France
2008 Masters France
The 2008 Masters France was a non-ATP affiliated exhibition tennis tournament. It was the first edition of the event held in Toulouse, France from December 18 through December 21, 2008...
exhibition tournament for the eight French players who had performed best at the four French tournaments. He qualified from the round-robin
Round-robin
The term round-robin was originally used to describe a document signed by multiple parties in a circle to make it more difficult to determine the order in which it was signed, thus preventing a ringleader from being identified...
group stage with victories against Julien Benneteau
Julien Benneteau
Julien Benneteau is a professional male tennis player from France. His career-best singles ranking is ATP world no. 32, which he reached in July 2010. He formerly resided in Boulogne Billancourt and now lives in Geneva...
, Marc Gicquel
Marc Gicquel
Marc Gicquel is a professional male tennis player from France. He turned pro in 1999.-Tennis career:...
, and Josselin Ouanna
Josselin Ouanna
Josselin Ouanna is a French tennis player. While a junior, he reached the final of the 2004 Australian Open. On October 20, 2008, he beat #46 Ivan Ljubičić in the first round of the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon as a wild-card entry ranked #182. He then beat #83 Nicolás Lapentti but lost to #10...
. In the final against Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra is a French professional tennis player. He is a prolific doubles player with three Grand Slam championships, and has also had success in singles.-Life and career:...
, Llodra pulled out with a shoulder injury, resulting in Simon's becoming the inaugural winner of the tournament.
2009
2009 Hopman Cup
The Hopman Cup XXI corresponds to the 21st edition of the Hopman Cup tournament between nations in men's and women's tennis. The tournament was held from 3 January through 9 January 2009 at the Burswood Entertainment Complex in Perth, Australia.Eight nations competed...
, teaming up with compatriot Alizé Cornet
Alizé Cornet
Alizé Cornet is a French professional tennis player and the current French number three . She was born in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, and has a career-high ranking of No. 11, achieved on 16 February 2009; as of 4 July 2011 she is ranked World No. 69...
to form the French mixed doubles duo.
Simon played at the first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open
2009 Australian Open
The 2009 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 97th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 19 January through 1 February 2009. The 2009 men's...
, as the sixth seed, winning against Pablo Andújar
Pablo Andújar
Pablo Andújar Alba is a professional male tennis player from Spain. Andújar has played since he was 6 years old and has won 4 Challengers and several futures. He trained in Valencia, Spain in the Tennis Club El Collao. He has been in the 2010 Australian Open, but he lost to Gilles Simon 6–4, 6–1,...
in the first round. He also competed with Jérémy Chardy
Jérémy Chardy
Jérémy Chardy is a French professional tennis player. He won the 2005 Wimbledon Championships Boys' Singles title, and finished as the runner-up at the 2005 US Open Boys' Singles, losing to Ryan Sweeting. His career high rank is no...
as his partner in the doubles, but the pair was defeated by Daniel Nestor
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor, CM , born Danijel Nestorović September 4, 1972, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is a Serbian-born Canadian professional tennis player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
and Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjic
Nenad Zimonjić is a professional Serbian tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 3 in men's doubles. He is the second tennis doubles player from Serbia to hold the World No.1, after Slobodan Živojinović.-Career:...
in the first round. The second round saw him beat Chris Guccione
Chris Guccione
Christopher "Chris" Luke Guccione , is an Australian professional tennis player from Greenvale, Victoria; his father is Italian and his mother is Australian....
in four sets, 6–7, 6–4, 6–1, 6–2. He defeated Mario Ančić
Mario Ancic
Mario Ančić is a retired Croatian professional tennis player. He won three singles titles and five doubles titles. His highest international ranking came during the 2006 ATP Tour, when he reached no. 7 in singles...
in the third round, winning in straight sets, advancing to his fourth-round encounter with compatriot Gaël Monfils
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open.-2002:In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the...
. Simon was leading in the first two sets before Monfils retired due to a wrist injury. He then played world no. 1 Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
in the quarterfinals, where he was dispatched, 2–6, 5–7, 5–7, although he had two set points in the second set.
He participated in the Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
with other French team members Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra is a French professional tennis player. He is a prolific doubles player with three Grand Slam championships, and has also had success in singles.-Life and career:...
, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet is a French professional tennis player. He won the mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the 2004 French Open, partnering Tatiana Golovin. His highest ranking in singles is #7. His best achievements in tennis are reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2007 and later that year...
. The team competed against the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
from 6–8 March. Simon lost, 7–6, 4–6, 7–6, 6–3 to Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters in 2005...
, and then played Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štepánek
Radek Štěpánek is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic.-Career:Štěpánek turned professional in 1997. He started on tour as a doubles specialist, winning 12 ATP titles. Since 2002, Štěpánek has focused on being a better singles player while still playing top-level doubles...
(whom his fellow team member Tsonga beat). Simon lost to Štěpánek, 6–7, 3–6, 6–7, which gave the Czechs a 3–1 lead, and France was out of the Davis Cup in the first round for the first time since 2000.
He went into the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami ranked no. 7 in the world. After early round wins over former world no. 1 Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...
and Rainer Schüttler
Rainer Schüttler
Rainer Schüttler is a German professional tennis player, ranked World No. 113 in the ATP rankings. He is the last German player who reached a final in a grand slam tournament....
, he lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round, 7–6, 3–6, 2–6. Simon competed at the Monte Carlo Masters against Andreas Beck
Andreas Beck (tennis)
Andreas Beck is a professional male tennis player of Germany. His career high rank was #33, achieved on November 2, 2009.- 2008 :...
in the men's singles, suffering a first-round loss of 5–7, 1–6. This result caused his world ranking to drop 2 spots down to no.9.
Simon played at the Estoril Open
Estoril Open
The Estoril Open is an ATP and WTA clay court tournament held in Jamor, Oeiras, Portugal . The men's tournament was created in 1990 and since its inception, every champion except 2004 champion Juan Ignacio Chela and 2009–2010 champion Albert Montañés has been in the Top 10 of the ATP rankings,...
as the top seed, before losing to Albert Montañés
Álbert Montañés
Albert Montañés Roca is a professional tennis player from Spain.He first entered the top-100 in 2001 and has been in the top-100 for all but 20 weeks since then...
, 7–5, 4–6, 6–7, in the third round. He competed with fellow players Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Jérémy Chardy
Jérémy Chardy
Jérémy Chardy is a French professional tennis player. He won the 2005 Wimbledon Championships Boys' Singles title, and finished as the runner-up at the 2005 US Open Boys' Singles, losing to Ryan Sweeting. His career high rank is no...
, forming the French team at the ARAG World Team Cup in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
. He lost to Robin Söderling
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked number 13 in the ATP rankings. Söderling reached successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010...
and Rainer Schüttler
Rainer Schüttler
Rainer Schüttler is a German professional tennis player, ranked World No. 113 in the ATP rankings. He is the last German player who reached a final in a grand slam tournament....
.
He entered Roland Garros as the seventh seed and defeated Wayne Odesnik
Wayne Odesnik
Wayne Odesnik is a professional left-handed American tennis player, with a two-handed backhand.His career-high in singles was # 77, as of April 13, 2009...
in five sets in the first round, and Robert Kendrick
Robert Kendrick
Robert Bradley Kendrick is an American tennis player. He turned professional in 1999. His career high single ranking is world no. 69, achieved on July 20, 2009. He was suspended for a year after testing positive at the 2011 French Open for the drug methylhexanamine, which has been banned in sport...
in straight sets. He was ousted by Victor Hănescu
Victor Hanescu
Victor Hănescu is a Romanian tennis player. He achieved his career high rank of no. 26 on July 6, 2009.- Professional career :...
in the third round, 4–6, 4–6, 2–6. During his third-round match, he also injured his right knee. Although he managed to finish the match, this knee injury would turned into a chronic problem that bothered him for a long time.
Simon competed at the AEGON Championships at Queens as the third seed, where he beat Grigor Dimitrov
Grigor Dimitrov
Grigor Dimitrov is a tennis player from Bulgaria. He achieved a career high ranking of World No. 52 on August 22, 2011. Dimitrov also enjoyed a very successful junior career, in which he held the World No...
, but lost to Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....
in the third round. At 2009 Wimbledon, Simon was the eighth seed. He defeated Bobby Reynolds
Bobby Reynolds
----Robert "Bobby" Thomas Reynolds in Cape Cod, Massachusetts) is an American professional tennis player who resides in Acworth, Georgia.-Professional career:...
and Thiago Alves
Thiago Alves (tennis)
Thiago Alves is a professional tennis player who competes mainly on the ITF Tour. His career high rank was #88, achieved on July 13, 2009.- In Grand Slams :He has made four Grand Slam main draw appearances, qualifying into the...
in the first two rounds. He defeated Victor Hănescu
Victor Hanescu
Victor Hănescu is a Romanian tennis player. He achieved his career high rank of no. 26 on July 6, 2009.- Professional career :...
in the third round with a comfortable 6–2, 7–5, 6–2 victory. He was ousted in the fourth round by unseeded Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat is a professional tennis player, and a former world no. 1 player, from Spain. He captured the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year, he became the 21st player to hold the world no. 1 ranking. He was also the runner-up at the 2002...
, 6–7, 3–6, 2–6.
Simon was the top seed at Stuttgart's MercedesCup and defeated Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner is a professional German tennis player. He is known for his hard-hitting and incredible bursts of speed around the court, and now for controversy in the US Open Men's Doubles Final which he won partnered with Jurgen Melzer against the Polish team of Fystenberg/Matkowski...
in the first round in straight sets before falling to Mischa Zverev
Mischa Zverev
Mikhail "Mischa" Zverev is a German professional tennis player. He is the son of former Russian tennis player Alexander Zverev, who is also his coach. He now resides in Monte-Carlo, Monaco and represents Germany internationally...
, 3–6, 2–6. At the 2009 International German Open
2009 International German Open
The 2009 International German Open was a tennis tournament to played on outdoor red clay courts. It was the 102nd edition of the event known that year as the International German Open and was part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2009 ATP World Tour...
, after receiving a bye in the first round, he lost to wildcard Daniel Brands
Daniel Brands
Daniel Brands is a German professional tennis player. His career high rank was No. 66, achieved on July 5, 2010.- 2008 :...
, 6–3, 4–6, 3–6.
During the 2009 US Open Series
2009 US Open Series
The sixth edition of the US Open Series , included ten hard court tournaments started on July 20 in Indianapolis and endend in New Haven, Connecticut on August 29. This edition has scheduled five separate men's tournaments, four women's tournaments, and the Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament hosted both a...
, he played at the 2009 Rogers Cup
2009 Rogers Cup
The 2009 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 120th edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the 2009 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier 5 of the 2009 WTA Tour...
where he lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round. One week later, he played at the 2009 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open
2009 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open
The 2009 Cincinnati Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts...
in Cincinnati, where he defeated Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...
en route to the quarterfinals, where he would lose to world no. 4 Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
. At the 2009 US Open, Simon equalled his best result of third round before retiring with a right knee injury during his third-round match against Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat is a professional tennis player, and a former world no. 1 player, from Spain. He captured the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year, he became the 21st player to hold the world no. 1 ranking. He was also the runner-up at the 2002...
.
Simon then won his first title of 2009 at the 2009 PTT Thailand Open
2009 PTT Thailand Open
The 2009 PTT Thailand Open was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 7th edition of the Thailand Open, and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 Series of the 2009 ATP World Tour...
, where he defeated Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has Serb and Russian ethnic roots. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Tver and Rostov-on-Don to Serbia in 1917. His career-high ranking is no. 12, achieved on 6 June 2011. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup,...
in the final, 7–5, 6–3. In Tokyo
2009 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships
The 2009 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 37th edition of the event known that year as the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, and was part of the 500 Series of the 2009 ATP World Tour...
, Simon was third seeded, but fell to Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....
in the second round. A week later he played at the Shanghai Masters
2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000
The 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 1st edition of the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2009 ATP World Tour...
as the eight seed and received a bye in the first round. He beat Viktor Troicki and Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters in 2005...
, but lost to Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
in the quarterfinals, 3–6, 6–2, 2–6.
Simon returned to France to play in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
and lost in the semifinal to Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra is a French professional tennis player. He is a prolific doubles player with three Grand Slam championships, and has also had success in singles.-Life and career:...
, 7–6, 3–6, 6–7. At the next tournament in Valencia, he lost to Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....
in the quarterfinal. He continued to Bercy to play at the BNP Paribas Masters. He was seeded 11th and had a first-round bye. In the second round, he faced Ivan Ljubičić
Ivan Ljubicic
----Ivan Ljubičić is a Croatian tennis player born in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His career-high ATP ranking to date has been no. 3, and he stands at no. 37....
, whom he had never beaten in three previous meetings. In the third set of the match, Simon has a break point to go up 4–2. While lunging to return a wide serve, he aggravated a right knee injury that has been bothering him for half of the 2009 season. Although with his movement severely hampered, Simon decided to play on to finish the match in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. He went on to win the match, 6–3, 3–6, 7–6. Two days later, he played his R3 match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and lost, 2–6, 3–6.
In an interview during the Paris tournament, Simon said that the doctor had recommended that he take at least two months to recover from his knee injury.
2010
Gilles started the 2010 season with an exhibition event, the World Tennis ChallengeWorld Tennis Challenge
The World Tennis Challenge is a three night exhibition tournament held in the week before the Australian Open in Adelaide, South Australia. The tournament was created by a consortium of past players including Jim Courier, Darren Cahill, Mark Woodforde and Roger Rasheed. It has four teams of two...
in Adelaide. It started badly for him, as he struggled with injury. He lost three straight matches, including to the home favourite Bernard Tomic
Bernard Tomic
Bernard Tomic is an Australian professional tennis player. As of 24 October 2011, Tomic is ranked the World No. 41, making him the highest ranked Australian male tennis player and the youngest player in the top 100...
. Simon pulled out of the Australian Open due to his knee injury. He did not make any appearances in the 2010 season until mid-February, at the 2010 Open 13
2010 Open 13
The 2010 Open 13 is a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It's the 17th edition of the Open 13, and is part of the International Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour...
tournament in Marseille. As the fifth seed, he lost in the first round to Olivier Rochus
Olivier Rochus
Olivier Rochus is a Belgian tennis player. He was born in Namur, Belgium, and currently resides in Auvelais, Belgium.-Career:...
, 5–7, 2–6 in Marseille. He then participated in the 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships
2010 Dubai Tennis Championships
The 2010 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships was a 500 Series event on the 2010 ATP World Tour and a Premier 5 event on the 2010 WTA Tour. Both of the events took place at The Aviation Club Tennis Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates...
as the eighth seed, but lost in the first round to Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis
At the French Open, Baghdatis lost in the second round in five sets to Frenchman Julien Benneteau, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6, 4-6.At Wimbledon, Baghdatis defeated British player Andy Murray in the fourth round in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, Baghdatis beat the 2002 champion and former world no. 1...
, 6–7, 4–6. Continuing to struggle, he lost to Brian Dabul, 5–7, 4–6, in the second round of the 2010 BNP Paribas Open
2010 BNP Paribas Open
The 2010 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2010. It was the 36th edition of the event, known this year as the BNP Paribas Open, and is classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2010 ATP World Tour and a Premier Mandatory event on...
Masters 1000 in Indian Wells. He also lost to Horacio Zeballos in the second round of the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open
2010 Sony Ericsson Open
The 2010 Sony Ericsson Open , was a tennis tournament for men and women held from March 22 to April 4, 2010. It was the 26th edition of the Miami Masters event and is played on outdoor hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Florida, located near Miami...
.
The right knee injury eventually caused Simon to miss the entire spring European clay season, including the French Open. He returned to the tour in mid-June, winning two rounds in Eastbourne before losing to Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra is a French professional tennis player. He is a prolific doubles player with three Grand Slam championships, and has also had success in singles.-Life and career:...
, 1–6, 3–6, in the quarterfinals. Continued on to 2010 Wimbledon, Simon reached the third round before losing to Andy Murray, 1–6, 4–6, 4–6. He began the summer US hard court season by participating in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic
Legg Mason Tennis Classic
The Legg Mason Tennis Classic is an annual late-summer men's tennis tournament played in Washington, D.C. as part of the ATP Tour. It was first held in 1969. It was later known as the Sovran Bank Classic. . Originally an event of the Grand Prix Tennis Tour and part of the Grand Prix Championship...
in Washington, D.C. and won two rounds of matches, including a win over top 10 player Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....
. He lost in the quarterfinals to David Nalbandian
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian is an Argentine professional tennis player and former world no. 3. He was runner-up at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships and the winner of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005.-Biography:...
in three sets. However, he suffered first-round defeats in his next two ATP Masters 1000 series tournaments, the 2010 Rogers Cup
2010 Rogers Cup
The 2010 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts in Canada. It was the 121st edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2010 WTA Tour...
in Toronto and the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open
2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open
The 2010 Cincinnati Masters was a tennis tournament that were played on outdoor hard courts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, United States, with the men playing from August 14 through August 22, 2010, and the women...
in Cincinnati, showing that he still had a long way to go to return to his top form and regain his confidence. He moved on to New York to take part in US Open
2010 US Open (tennis)
The 2010 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 30 to September 13, 2010 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City, United States....
, reaching the thirdround by defeating Donald Young in three sets and Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber is a tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 2001. The right-hander has won six doubles and three singles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 28 September 2009, when he achieved a ranking of World No. 22...
in five sets. He went on to meet the no. 1 player Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
in the third round. Before the match, upon hearing about the birth of Simon's son, Nadal jokingly offered to buy Simon a flight ticket back to Europe to see his son before the match. Simon stayed, and lost to Rafael Nadal in three sets.
After the US Open, Simon was picked to represent France in the semifinal of the Davis Cup because Tsonga was unavailable due to injury. He did not play any live rubber, but defeated Eduardo Schwank in a dead rubber, 7–6, 6–7, 6–3.
Simon then entered 2010 Open de Moselle
2010 Open de Moselle
The 2010 Open de Moselle was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 13th edition of the Open de Moselle, and is part of the ATP World Tour 250 Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour...
as a wildcard. Originally, he did not plan to play the tournament because his son was supposed to be due that week. He took his newly extended family to Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
and eventually won the tournament by beating Mischa Zverev
Mischa Zverev
Mikhail "Mischa" Zverev is a German professional tennis player. He is the son of former Russian tennis player Alexander Zverev, who is also his coach. He now resides in Monte-Carlo, Monaco and represents Germany internationally...
, 6–3, 6–2, in the final. This was his seventh career title, coming only weeks after the birth of his first child. During the award ceremony, he thanked his girlfriend for the support and called the victory a "family effort."
The rest of 2010 was more ups and downs, indicating that after returning from the serious knee injury, he was still struggling to find his consistency. He went on to participate in two Asian tournaments. He beat Sam Querrey
Sam Querrey
Sam Austin Querrey is a professional American tennis player from Thousand Oaks, California currently living in Las Vegas, Nevada. As of August 2010, he is the fourth-highest ranked American. His career high rank was #17, achieved on January 31, 2011. His height allows him to play with a strong...
and Michael Berrer
Michael Berrer
Michael Berrer is a German professional tennis player. He reached his career high in singles with No. 42 on May 2010 and his high in doubles in March 2009 with No...
to reach the quarterfinals of the China Open
2010 China Open – Men's Singles
Novak Djokovic was the defending champion and defended his title, defeating David Ferrer 6–2, 6–4 in the final.-Seeds:# Novak Djokovic # Andy Murray # Robin Söderling # Nikolay Davydenko ...
in Beijing, but lost to Djokovic in two relatively easy sets. He then crashed out at the first round of the Shanghai Masters to Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. He also holds German citizenship as his father is German. His career ranking high is no. 9, achieved on 9 June 2008. He considers clay his best surface and his backhand his best shot...
in two sets. After Asia, he returned to France to play Open Sud de France in Montpellier. During his second-round encounter, he was down a set and a break to David Nalbandian
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian is an Argentine professional tennis player and former world no. 3. He was runner-up at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships and the winner of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005.-Biography:...
before fighting back to even the match at one all. He was then down a break again before coming back to beat the seeded player in three sets. He eventually lost in the quraterfinals to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in three sets. The next tournament was the Valencia Open 500, where Simon beat two seeds (Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona is a professional tennis player. He is currently ranked no. 22 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight...
and Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...
) en route to his semifinal appearance, only to lose to the Spanish qualifier Marcel Granollers
Marcel Granollers
Marcel Granollers i Pujol is a professional tennis player from Spain who turned professional in 2003. He reached his highest singles ranking of World Number 33 on August 1, 2011, and his highest doubles ranking of World Number 5.-2006:Granollers made the first round of the Wimbledon tournament in...
in two sets. At the last tournament of the season, BNP Paribas Masters, Simon again came from behind to beat newcomer Andrey Golubev
Andrey Golubev
Andrey Golubev is a Kazakhstani professional tennis playercurrently living in Italy. His career high rank is #33, achieved on October 4, 2010. He has participated in all Grand Slam tournaments, the first being the 2008 US Open, as well in the main draw of ATP Masters Series and ATP International...
in three sets during their first-round encounter. However, in the seoncd round, after failing to convert numerous breakpoints in the beginning of set 1, a set that he eventually lost, Simon faded and lost the second set to the eventual title winner Robin Söderling
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked number 13 in the ATP rankings. Söderling reached successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010...
in two easy sets.
In December 2010, Simon was picked to play the Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
final for France, which was hosted in Belgrade, Serbia. The final was filled with controversies over which player was to be called on to play each match. France called on Simon to play Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
in day 1, while others were expecting Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra is a French professional tennis player. He is a prolific doubles player with three Grand Slam championships, and has also had success in singles.-Life and career:...
to play, based on Llodra's good form in the BNP Paribas Masters (including beating Djokovic in two sets). Simon lost the match in three sets. When France won the doubles and led 2–1 going into day 3, the French team seemed to be on its way to yet another Davis Cup victory. But day 3 opened with Djokovic in strong form defeating Monfils in three easy sets, leaving the championship to a deciding fifth match. The schedule originally stated that the fifth match was to be played by Janko Tipsarević
Janko Tipsarevic
Janko Tipsarević is a Serbian tennis player. His career-high ranking is No. 9, achieved on 14 November 2011. He is the 117th player in history to crack the top 10....
and Simon. Last-minute replacement saw both replaced by their teammates Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has Serb and Russian ethnic roots. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Tver and Rostov-on-Don to Serbia in 1917. His career-high ranking is no. 12, achieved on 6 June 2011. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup,...
and Michaël Llodra respectively. The fifth match ended in anti-climatic fashion with an overwhelming victory for Troicki in three sets. Serbia won the Davis Cup for the first time in history. France's defeat caused some to question the choice of Llodra to play Troicki when Simon has a 4–0 head-to-head record against the Serb. Nevertheless, everyone agrees that Troicki and the Serbian team had displayed convincing performances over their French opponent, and the victory was well deserved.
2011
Simon started his 2011 campaign by entering three tournaments in Australia: Brisbane2011 Brisbane International
The 2011 Brisbane International was a joint ATP and WTA tennis tournament, played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 3rd edition of the tournament and took place at the Queensland Tennis Centre in Tennyson, Brisbane. It was held from 2 to 9 January...
, Sydney
2011 Medibank International Sydney
The 2011 Medibank International Sydney was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 119th edition of the Medibank International Sydney, and part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour, and of the WTA Premier tournaments of the 2011 WTA Tour...
, and the Australian Open
2011 Australian Open
The 2011 Australian Open was a tennis tournament featuring six different competitions, and part of the 2011 ATP World Tour, the 2011 WTA Tour, ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour, as tournaments for professional, junior and wheelchair players were held...
. He lost in the first round of Brisbane to Santiago Giraldo
Santiago Giraldo
Santiago Giraldo Salazar is a Colombian male tennis player from Pereira in Colombia. He plays on the ATP tour and represents Colombia in the Davis Cup competition.-ATP Tour:...
, 3–6, 3–6. One week later, he beat Alexandr Dolgopolov and Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis is a Latvian professional tennis player. In 2008, Gulbis won his first ATP Tour doubles title at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, teaming with Rainer Schüttler, and in 2010 won his first ATP Tour singles title in the Delray Beach, defeating Ivo Karlović in the final...
in the quarterfinals and semifinals and then captured his eighth title by defeating Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has Serb and Russian ethnic roots. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Tver and Rostov-on-Don to Serbia in 1917. His career-high ranking is no. 12, achieved on 6 June 2011. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup,...
, 7–5, 7–6, in the final of the Sydney International. In the Australian Open, he lost to Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
in the second round in a five-set match, 2–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 3–6. Simon went on to defeat Nicolás Almagro 6–4, 4–6, 6–4 in Hamburg, capturing the most important title (in terms of ATP Rankings) of his career to date.
Simon reached the fourth round of Roland Garros
2011 French Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal, the defending champion and, after this tournament, six-time winner of this event defended his title by beating long-time rival Roger Federer for his sixth French Open title, tying him with Björn Borg for most all-time in the open era. Notably, the Spaniard played his first ever...
but lost to Robin Soderling
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked number 13 in the ATP rankings. Söderling reached successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010...
6-2, 6-3, 7-6(7-5). At Wimbledon
2011 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion but lost to Novak Djokovic in the final.Djokovic won his first Wimbledon title. Upon reaching the final, he gained the World No.1 ranking as a result. This marks the first time that neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal is ranked No...
, he lost to Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro is an Argentine professional tennis player. Del Potro achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on October 6, 2008. In January 2010, he reached a career-high ranking of world no. 4...
in the third round 7-6(10-8), 7-6(7-5), 7-5.
At the US Open
2011 US Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but was defeated in the final by Novak Djokovic with a score of 6–2, 6–4, 6–7, 6–1. Djokovic claimed his first US Open title, his third Grand Slam of the year, and his fourth Grand Slam overall.-Seeds:...
, he advanced to the fourth round by defeating Ricardo Mello
Ricardo Mello
Ricardo Mello is a Brazilian tennis player. His preference is for clay courts. He has had the occasional win in hard court tournaments. His best singles rank was no. 50 in 2005...
, Guillermo García-López, and Juan Martin del Potro
Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro is an Argentine professional tennis player. Del Potro achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on October 6, 2008. In January 2010, he reached a career-high ranking of world no. 4...
in the third round in four sets, 4–6, 7–67–5, 6–2, 7–67–3. He lost to John Isner
John Isner
John Robert Isner is an American professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high rank of no. 18 on July 5, 2010, and has been as high as the second-ranked American tennis player behind Andy Roddick...
in the fourth round, 7-67-2, 3-6, 7-67-2, 7-67-4.
Playing style
Simon is known for his speed, agility, mental strength and tennis brain. His backhand is considered his best shot as he is capable of expertly creating angles and varying his shots in addition to taking the ball earlier and unleashing flat and penetrating backhand drives. He is also very capable on the forehand side, and his forehand is the wing with which he is able to attack opponents. His technique is seamless, and this enables him to absorb and redirect powerful shots. As mentioned before, he is also a tactical player who can vary his hit point on both sides, keeping the ball on his strings until the very last moment, and then suddenly taking the ball early with random injections of pace. This keeps his opponents off-guard; hence, although he is widely classed as a counter-puncher, it is often he who controls the points.As his career kicked off in 2008, Simon began to work tirelessly on his volleys and net-game, and this has since come to form a prominent part of his game. Nowadays, he looks to sneak in and finish points off at the net whenever he can, and he often enjoys serving and volleying or rushing to the net off the return to break up his opponent's rhythm on break points and important points in general.
While his return is one of the best parts of his game, his serve has also become a pivotal part of his game, and he often manages to find his best serves on the biggest points. In general, Simon is often overlooked in an era filled with powerful players and big servers. However, he is a unique player with countless layers to his game. When lacking confidence, he has a tendency to retreat behind the baseline and play passively. However, when he is confident and lucid, he is a force to behold.
Equipment
Simon plays with a YouTek Prestige MP paint job of a Prestige Tour 630 racquet and 2009 Team series bag, both from HeadHead (company)
Head N.V. is a sports equipment and clothing company, known mainly for their alpine skis and tennis racquets. Founded as a ski company in Baltimore, Maryland, the company is currently headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Kennelbach, Austria...
, a brand which he has endorsed.
His racquet is strung with Head IntelliTour 16 String. He is sponsored by Adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
.
Singles: 1 (0 Titles, 1 Runner-up)
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 2008 |  MadridMadrid Masters There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters:*Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open — a men's and women's tennis tournament*Madrid Masters... |
Hard (i) |  Andy Murray |
4–6, 6–7(6–8) |
Singles: 11 (9 Titles, 2 Runner-ups)
EWLINE
|
EWLINE
|
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | April 16, 2006 | Valencia Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana The Valencia Open 500, formerly known as Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana, is a professional tennis tournament played in Valencia, Spain. It is currently part of the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. The tournament was first played in Valencia in 1995 before moving to Marbella, Spain for... , Spain |
Clay | Nicolás Almagro Nicolás Almagro Nicolas Almagro Sanchez Rolle is a professional Spanish tennis player, ranked 10 on the ATP World Tour.-2005:... |
2–6, 3–6 |
| Winner | 1. | February 18, 2007 |  Marseille, France |
Hard (i) |  Marcos BaghdatisMarcos Baghdatis At the French Open, Baghdatis lost in the second round in five sets to Frenchman Julien Benneteau, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6, 4-6.At Wimbledon, Baghdatis defeated British player Andy Murray in the fourth round in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, Baghdatis beat the 2002 champion and former world no. 1... |
6–4, 7–6(8–6) |
| Winner | 2. | September 16, 2007 |  Bucharest, Romania |
Clay | Victor Hănescu Victor Hanescu Victor Hănescu is a Romanian tennis player. He achieved his career high rank of no. 26 on July 6, 2009.- Professional career :... |
4–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| Winner | 3. | May 24, 2008 |  CasablancaGrand Prix Hassan II The Grand Prix Hassan II is an annual tennis tournament on the ATP Tour and is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series. The event is held annually at the Complexe Al Amal in Casablanca, Morocco and is played on clay courts. Between 1986 and 1989 it was part of the Challenger... , Morocco |
Clay | Julien Benneteau Julien Benneteau Julien Benneteau is a professional male tennis player from France. His career-best singles ranking is ATP world no. 32, which he reached in July 2010. He formerly resided in Boulogne Billancourt and now lives in Geneva... |
7–5, 6–2 |
| Winner | 4. | July 20, 2008 |  Indianapolis, United States |
Hard |  Dmitry TursunovDmitry Tursunov Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov is a Russian professional male tennis player. He was 12 years old when he came to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player.... |
6–4, 6–4 |
| Winner | 5. | September 14, 2008 | Bucharest, Romania (2) |
Clay | Carlos Moyà Carlos Moyá Carlos Moya Llompart is a retired former world no. 1 tennis player from Spain. He was the French Open singles champion in 1998 and was the singles runner-up at the 1997 Australian Open. In 2004, he helped his country win the Davis Cup. He currently resides in Switzerland... |
6–3, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 2. | October 19, 2008 | Madrid Madrid Masters There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters:*Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open — a men's and women's tennis tournament*Madrid Masters... , Spain |
Hard (i) | Andy Murray |
4–6, 6–7(6–8) |
| Winner | 6. | September 28, 2009 |  Bangkok, Thailand |
Hard (i) |  Viktor TroickiViktor Troicki Viktor Troicki is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has Serb and Russian ethnic roots. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Tver and Rostov-on-Don to Serbia in 1917. His career-high ranking is no. 12, achieved on 6 June 2011. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup,... |
7–5, 6–3 |
| Winner | 7. | September 26, 2010 | Metz Open de Moselle The Open de Moselle is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It has been held annually since 2003. The venue for the tournament was the Arènes until 2010 and is now the Parc des Expositions since 2011... , France |
Hard (i) |  Mischa ZverevMischa Zverev Mikhail "Mischa" Zverev is a German professional tennis player. He is the son of former Russian tennis player Alexander Zverev, who is also his coach. He now resides in Monte-Carlo, Monaco and represents Germany internationally... |
6–3, 6–2 |
| Winner | 8. | January 15, 2011 |  Sydney, Australia |
Hard | Viktor Troicki |
7–5, 7–6(7–4) |
| Winner | 9. | July 24, 2011 | Hamburg, Germany |
Clay | Nicolás Almagro |
6–4, 4–6, 6–4 |
Singles performance timeline
To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only after a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through to 2011 BNP Paribas Masters2011 BNP Paribas Masters
The 2011 BNP Paribas Masters was a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 40th edition of the tournament which was part of the 2011 ATP World Tour...
.
| Tournament | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | W–L | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam Tournaments | |||||||||||
| Australian Open Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court... |
A | Q3 | 3R | 1R | 3R | QF | A | 2R 2011 Australian Open – Men's Singles Roger Federer was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic, who went on to win the tournament by defeating Andy Murray 6–4, 6–2, 6–3 in the final. It was Djokovic's 2nd title at the Australian Open, with this title bearing many resemblances to his title in 2008. Djokovic... |
9–5 | ||
| French Open | Q1 | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | 3R 2009 French Open – Men's Singles Rafael Nadal was the defending champion but lost in the fourth round to Robin Söderling. This was Nadal's first ever defeat at the French Open, having won the title in all six of his other appearances... |
A | 4R 2011 French Open – Men's Singles Rafael Nadal, the defending champion and, after this tournament, six-time winner of this event defended his title by beating long-time rival Roger Federer for his sixth French Open title, tying him with Björn Borg for most all-time in the open era. Notably, the Spaniard played his first ever... |
6–6 | ||
| Wimbledon | A | Q3 | 1R | 2R | 3R | 4R | 3R 2010 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles The Men's Singles event at the 2010 saw Rafael Nadal, the World No. 1 and 2nd seed, defeat 12th seed Tomáš Berdych 6–3 7–5 6–4 in the final to win his 2nd Wimbledon title, and his 8th Grand Slam title overall.... |
3R 2011 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles Rafael Nadal was the defending champion but lost to Novak Djokovic in the final.Djokovic won his first Wimbledon title. Upon reaching the final, he gained the World No.1 ranking as a result. This marks the first time that neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal is ranked No... |
9–6 | ||
| US Open | Q1 | Q1 | 2R | 2R | 3R | 3R | 3R 2010 US Open – Men's Singles Juan Martín del Potro was the defending champion, but chose not to participate this year, after undergoing a wrist operation in May and only starting to practice again in August... |
4R 2011 US Open – Men's Singles Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but was defeated in the final by Novak Djokovic with a score of 6–2, 6–4, 6–7, 6–1. Djokovic claimed his first US Open title, his third Grand Slam of the year, and his fourth Grand Slam overall.-Seeds:... |
11–6 | ||
| Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–4 | 3–4 | 6–4 | 11–4 | 3–2 | 9–4 | 35–23 | ||
| Year-End Championship | |||||||||||
| ATP World Tour Finals | A | A | A | A | SF 2008 Tennis Masters Cup – Singles Roger Federer was the defending champion, but lost in the round robin. Rafael Nadal would have been seeded number one, but pulled out pre-tournament citing a knee injuryNovak Djokovic won in the final 6–1, 7–5, against Nikolay Davydenko.-Seeds:... |
A | A | A | 2–2 | ||
| Olympic Games | |||||||||||
| Summer Olympics Tennis at the Summer Olympics Tennis was part of the Summer Olympic Games program from the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics, but was dropped after the 1924 Summer Olympics... |
A | Not Held | 3R Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's Singles The Men's Singles tennis competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held from August 10 to August 17 at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre. The DecoTurf surface rendered the event a hardcourt competition. Matches were in best-of-3 sets, except for the final which was in best-of-5 sets... |
Not Held | 2–1 | ||||||
| ATP World Tour Masters 1000 | |||||||||||
| Indian Wells Masters Indian Wells Masters The Indian Wells Masters is an annual tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California.... |
A | Q1 | Q1 | 3R | 2R | 3R | 2R 2010 BNP Paribas Open – Men's Singles The Men's singles tournament of this event started in the week of March 8. It was the year's first of nine tournaments in the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series.Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but he lost to Ivan Ljubičić in the semifinals.... |
3R 2011 BNP Paribas Open – Men's Singles The 2011 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2011. It was the 37th edition of the event, known as the BNP Paribas Open, and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2011 ATP World Tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the 2011... |
5–5 | ||
| Miami Masters Miami Masters The Miami Masters is an annual tennis tournament for men and women held in Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida. It is an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the men's tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the women's tour and is played on hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park... |
A | Q2 | 1R | A | 1R | 4R | 2R 2010 Sony Ericsson Open – Men's Singles Andy Murray was the defending champion, but lost to Mardy Fish in the second round.Andy Roddick beat Tomáš Berdych 7-5, 6-4 to win his first Masters 1000 event since 2006... |
QF 2011 Sony Ericsson Open – Men's Singles Andy Roddick was the defending champion, but lost to Pablo Cuevas in the second round.Novak Djokovic won the title, defeating Rafael Nadal 4–6, 6–3, 7–6 in the final for the second week in a row after also beating him in the Indian Wells final the previous week... |
5–5 | ||
| Monte Carlo Masters | A | Q1 | 3R | 1R | 1R | 2R | A | 3R 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters – Singles Rafael Nadal was the six-time defending champion and defended his title by beating compatriot David Ferrer 6–4, 7–5. This was Nadal's 7th consecutive title in Monte-Carlo, which is the all-time record both for consecutive titles at any tournament and the most titles at this tournament.-Seeds:The... |
4–5 | ||
| Rome Masters Rome Masters The Italian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open, with the men's competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, and the women's... |
A | Q2 | A | 3R | 2R | 3R | A | 2R 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia – Men's Singles Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, however he lost to Novak Djokovic in the final. Djokovic defeated him 6–4, 6–4 to win his 39th consecutive match and his 7th title of 2011... |
5–4 | ||
| Madrid Masters Madrid Masters There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters:*Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open — a men's and women's tennis tournament*Madrid Masters... |
A | Q1 | Q1 | A | F | 3R | A | 2R 2011 Mutua Madrid Open – Men's Singles Rafael Nadal was the defending champion but lost to world No. 2 Novak Djokovic 7–5, 6–4 in the final. It was the second win for Djokovic on a ATP Master 1000 Tournament played on clay courts, the 6th title of the year and 24th of his career... |
7–3 | ||
| Canada Masters Canada Masters The Canada Masters , currently sponsored as the Rogers Cup, is an annual tennis tournament held in Canada. The men's competition is a Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. The women's competition is a Premier 5 tournament on the Women's Tennis Association tour... |
A | Q1 | 1R | A | SF | 3R | 1R | 1R 2011 Rogers Cup – Men's Singles Andy Murray was the two-time defending champion, but lost to Kevin Anderson in the second round.World No.1 Novak Djokovic won his 10th Masters 1000 title of his career and his 9th title of the year, beating Mardy Fish in the final 6–2, 3–6, 6–4... |
6–5 | ||
| Cincinnati Masters Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Open is an annual outdoor hardcourts tennis event held in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason, Ohio, USA. The event started on September 18, 1899 and is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States played in its original city., Between... |
A | 1R | 2R | Q1 | 2R | QF | 1R 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters – Singles Roger Federer became the first player since Andre Agassi in 1996 to have successfully defended the title. He defeated Mardy Fish in the final 6–7, 7–6, 6–4. It was his 4th win at the event also winning in 2005, 2007, and 2009... |
QF 2011 Western & Southern Open – Men's Singles Roger Federer was the two-time defending champion, but lost to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals.Andy Murray won the tournament beating No.1 seed Novak Djokovic in the final, 6–4, 3–0 ret. It was the 7th ATP Masters 1000 title of Murray's career, and his first in 2011... |
8–6 | ||
| Shanghai Masters Shanghai Masters (tennis) The Shanghai Masters is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour. It is held annually in October at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in Shanghai, People's... |
Not Masters Series | QF | 1R | 3R 2011 Shanghai Rolex Masters – Singles Andy Murray was the defending champion and successfully defended his title by beating David Ferrer 7–5, 6–4 in the final.-Seeds:The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round.# Rafael Nadal # Andy Murray ... |
3–3 | ||||||
| Paris Masters Paris Masters The Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France. It is played indoors at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. The event is part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour... |
A | Q1 | 1R | 2R | 3R | 3R | 2R 2010 BNP Paribas Masters – Singles Novak Djokovic was the defending champion, but lost in the third round to Michaël Llodra.Robin Söderling won the title, defeating Gaël Monfils 6–1, 7–6 in the final.-Seeds:All seeds received a bye into the second round.# Roger Federer ... |
2R 2011 BNP Paribas Masters – Singles Robin Söderling was the defending champion, but could not participate due to mononucleosis.Roger Federer won the title, defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6–1, 7–6 in the final.-Seeds:All seeds received a bye into the second round.... |
4–6 | ||
| Hamburg Masters Hamburg Masters The German Open Hamburg, established in 1892, is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Hamburg, Germany and part of the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. Originally a Grand Prix Tennis Tour event between 1978 and 1989 it was part of the Grand Prix Championship... |
A | Q1 | 3R | 2R | 2R | NMS | 4–3 | ||||
| Career Statistics | |||||||||||
| Tournaments Played | 1 | 6 | 24 | 29 | 28 | 25 | 18 | 27 | 158 | ||
| Titles–Finals | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 9–11 | ||
| Overall Win–Loss | 0–1 | 6–6 | 24–24 | 35–26 | 51–27 | 45–29 | 23–18 | 39–27 | 223–158 | ||
| Year End Ranking | 177 | 124 | 45 | 29 | 7 | 15 | 41 | 12 | |||
ATP Tour career earnings
| Year | Majors | ATP titles | Total titles | Earnings ($) | oney list rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 147,393 | 140 |
| 2006 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 378,760 | 68 |
| 2007 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 560,655 | 38 |
| 2008 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1,425,489 | 7 |
| 2009 | 0 | 1 | 1 | $1,128,735 | 15 |
| 2010 | 0 | 1 | 1 | $532,413 | 58 |
| 2011 | 0 | 2 | 2 | $918,423 | 10 |
| Career | 0 | 9 | 9 | $5,135,958 | - |