Quite a lot of us have depressing days at the office now and again. But for most of us those bad days don’t follow right after our very best day at the office in more than six years; or come about because someone else’s glittering work prevents our own from shining. Such was the thankless fate which befell Gilles Simon on Wednesday.
The Frenchman put together a run of thoroughly satisfying results at Wimbledon 2015 – including a straight sets demolition of the 2010 runner-up Tomas Berdych in the fourth round – to reach only the second Grand Slam quarter-final of his career, the first being in Australia in 2009.
In the last eight he faced Roger Federer, whom he has not beaten in five attempts since 2008. But during that time the pair have had a couple of five-set Grand Slam battles in Melbourne and Paris, while Federer edged their most recent joust in Shanghai last year with two tie-breaks. So Simon – who shares the 17-time Grand Slam champion’s enviable trait of appearing not to perspire on court – may have felt moderately optimistic. But on No.1 Court on Wednesday, his parade was repeatedly rained on, both literally and figuratively.
The British weather did its bit, as a match lasting 95 minutes required three hours to complete. But the main dampener for the No.12 seed was Federer himself, who once again was not required to play at his superlative best in order get past an opponent. Simon had no answer to his variety of weapons, and could barely get into the rallies when Federer was serving.
There was one honourable exception, although it must have been scant compensation to one of the best returners in the game – the 30-year-old became the first player at either Wimbledon or Halle to break Federer’s serve, doing so quite unexpectedly to love when the Swiss was serving for the second set. Game number 117 in Federer’s undefeated sequence was the one which broke the spell, but all that happened was he broke Simon right back and – with another interval for rain – served out the set and subsequently the match 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.
I’ve had worse trips than this one
"Roger played a great match especially on the serve,” said Simon, whose body language drooped visibly as he trudged through the third set. “I had a lot of pressure because of that. From the first point in the match, he served perfect. He never gave me any occasion. The only break I had was really good. I just played a perfect game to break him. But the general feeling was that it was matter of time before I will lose my serve. It was hard to have a grip on him.”
Simon is one of those players whose public profile is comparatively low, although anyone might be outshone by charisma machines such as Gael Monfils or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
But it always seems a good sign when a player is popular among his professional peers, and the articulate Simon is most definitely one such, not least through his conscientious service on the ATP Player Council.
“Poussin” (as his compatriots dub him, for allegedly having legs so thin that he looks like a chicken) is also lifelong best mates with Monfils, and it was rather touching to watch the two of them walk on the Centre Court on Saturday evening to complete their third-ound match after the light failed on No.1 Court. They were side-by-side, making each other laugh, staring around the suddenly-unfamiliar arena in mutual wonder. Visiting Martians would have been hard-pressed to tell that these two were professional rivals engaged in battle on one of the great stages.
That night will be one of the good memories he takes from Wimbledon 2015. Despite his comprehensive defeat by Federer, like all players Simon has to find the positives. In this case it isn’t too hard, as this has been by far the most profitable grass-court season of his career – he reached the semis at Queen’s and the quarters at Nottingham.
Currently ranked 13, he is eager to return to the top 10, having been ranked as high as No.6 after the Australian quarter-final in 2009. Moreover, he will want to carry his Wimbledon form forward as his grass-court season is not yet done – his next outing is for France in their Davis Cup World Group quarter-final against Great Britain across London at Queen’s Club the week after The Championships.
“I have been in great shape in five-set matches here,” said Simon. “Playing good tennis. The grass is a bit different at Queen’s so I think I have everything I need to be ready for it. Of course this is the longest grass-court season I have had, but I have been successful, so I’ve had worse trips than this one.”
