Gilles Simon, who is playing the last tournament of his career at 37, dominated ex-world number 1 Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the first round. To the delight of the Parisian public.
At the Accor Arena,
Retirement will wait. The ceremony planned to honor him, too. Faced with a Murray on very alternating current, Gilles Simon knew how to reverse a badly embarked scenario. Retirement wasn’t far off though. The ex-world number 6, dropped to 188th, was thus led 6-4, 5-3 before derailing the Scotsman and winning after 2h50 minutes of a funny fight. Murray, who seemed to be physically affected, suffered a terrible air pocket in the second act by losing four consecutive games to concede it 7-5. And in the decisive round, the almost retired man was able to keep a break made in the third game until the end. He also took advantage of three double faults from the 48th in the world to stay in the match and conclude on the face-off of his opponent. What ignite the public of the Accor Arena. The “Gillou”, “Gillou” rocketed.
Read alsoRolex Paris Masters: “a good match to play”, slips Gasquet opposed to Ruud in the 2nd round
Always as good a microphone in hand, the Niçois, very moved, did not hide his relief. “There are a lot of conflicting feelings out there. This last week is tough because playing tennis has been my life. And it will stop. And every thing that I do, like doing my grips, my pre-game warm-up, I know it might be the last time. I try to enjoy it but I have a colossal stress. I want to do well. I got off to a bad start. At 3-0 against me, I said to myself, he ruined my career, he will ruin it for me until the end. But that’s also why we love him because he’s a competitor who gives nothing.»
Read alsoDjokovic, Nadal, Alcaraz, Auger-Aliassime: stars and challenges at Bercy
It was the 19th meeting between the two men. Simon was down 16-2. His last victory against the Briton dates back to 2015. But on Monday night, it was he who cracked a Murray, very far from his best level, it is true. Under the eyes of his friends Gasquet, Monfils and Tsonga, retired from Roland-Garros, installed side by side in the last row of the presidential stand, as well as his family and two coaches who counted in his career, Thierry Tulasne and the ‘German Jan De Witt. Simon was also able to count on the unfailing support of the Parisian public. “Since I announced my retirement, I have felt a lot of kindness from everyone. I do the best I can. Everybody is here. My friends, my family. All those who have been there since the beginning. Gael and Jo came especially to see me. That’s nice of Gael who just became a dad. Just for the last game. We will have to come back on Wednesday (laughs)».
The short marathon runner has managed to uphold his reputation. In the second round on Wednesday, the Niçois will face the American Taylor Fritz, world number 11 and still in the race to qualify for the Masters at the end of the season. To prolong the pleasure. “It could be my last game. There will be at least one more. I’m going to be tight for two more days. I will do my best to enjoy this atmosphere, at least once again.»