ATP Masters Paris-Bercy: Au revoir! - Gilles Simon's career is over
After the knockout round at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy against Felix Auger-Aliassime, Gilles Simon 's career is officially over.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit:
Nov 04, 2022, 02:25 pm
Gilles Simon had probably already prepared on Monday to address his last words of greeting to the numerous fans and friends who had come. The farewell party for the French veteran at the Masters home tournament in Paris-Bercy was ready. But the 37-year-old had other plans. He turned a game against Andy Murray that he thought he had lost, and in the end won 4:6, 7:5, 6:3 against the long-standing opponent from Scotland.
And then go one better in the second round. Because even the current world number 11. Taylor Fritz from the USA had to submit to the fighting charm of the man from Nice. After more than three hours of play, Simon heaved himself into the last round of 16 of his 20-year career after a 7:5,-5:7,-6:4 effort. But yesterday, Thursday, it was over there. The currently strong Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime showed no mercy in the clear 6:1, 6:3 win.
14 tournament wins, sixth position in the ATP ranking
All in all, the playful farewell performances at the 1000 indoor hard court event in the French metropolis were a strong piece in the truest sense of the word. The emotional farewell took place on Center Court in the Accor Arena immediately after the knockout round. And in addition to numerous messages from long-time competitors and companions on the video screen, the Western European himself also started his big speech - with the words: "I'll talk for 30 minutes" - but it didn't get that long after all.
In just over ten minutes, "Gillou", as he is called by his home fans, thanked his family in particular: "Thank you for letting me live my passion for so long. I love you with all my heart, thank you for everything." The family man is particularly looking forward to the time ahead with his children: "I played for a long time. I had my first child when I was 25. I'll be 38 and he hasn't seen his father for a long time." In the end, the lively right-hander summed it up: "There are advantages to playing and to quitting. I'll try to focus on the good things about quitting."
Gilles Simon has celebrated 14 tournament victories on the ATP tour level in his long career, his greatest triumph was in 2011 at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Hamburg. His last title win was in September 2018, when he won his home tournament in Metz for the third time. The Frenchman achieved his best major results at the Australian Open in 2009 and in Wimbledon in 2015, where he reached the quarter-finals in each case. His best ranking position was 6th at the beginning of 2009.
Here the single tableau from Paris-Bercy.
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