Since 2015, when he last won the Open 13 Provence, Gilles Simon, 35, had not reached the semi-finals. The Frenchman, who has two titles to his name in Marseille, has done so again. The Frenchman beat the number one seed, Daniil Medvedev, in two sets, 6/4 6/0, in 1 hour and 7 minutes.
However, the Russian started the match well, quickly leading 3-1. But he had warned before his match: Medvedev doesn't like playing against Gilles Simon. And the world number 5 started to lose his footing. The Frenchman had a set point against him, which he saved with a beautiful long backhand, but then he couldn't do anything against the Frenchman. Medvedev, who was so upset, went out of his game and didn't play a single game. " I managed to play a very good gameI'm very happy to be here," said Gilles Simon. There were a lot of rallies, but I managed to put my tennis down and get them all in. That's how it is, sometimes there are opponents who are more successful and it's true that her style of play suits me. "
Gilles Simon had not beaten a Top 5 player since October 2016 and a victory over Stan Wawrinka, who was ranked No. 3 at the time. Thanks to his performance today, the Frenchman will now play in the semi-finals of the Open 13 Provence for the fifth time in his career. Simon has even won twice, in 2007 and 2015. He will be joining Marc Rosset, Thomas Enqvist and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the only players to have won three times in Marseille. But the road is still long...
