Gilles Simon

Simon's motivation about the final of Bucharest tounment :
source welovetennis.fr (http://www.welovetennis.fr/atp-bucarest/47991-simon-je-peux-gagner-le-tournoi)
Simon thinks that he could win the tournment....(in french but could be translated by google)

ATP - Bucarest > Simon : "Je peux gagner le tournoi"

Par Maxime Benmussa, samedi 28 avril 2012 à 20:36
En conférence de presse, Gilles Simon s'est exprimé sur son match et sur sa qualification en finale à Bucarest.

"C'était un match difficile. Son service a été impressionnant aujourd'hui, il a sauvé beaucoup de balles de breaks avec des aces. J'ai bien joué et bougé sur le terrain aujourd'hui mais Matthias m'a donné du fil à retordre aujourd'hui. Je me sens bien. Je sais que je peux très bien jouer ici. Je connais le court central par coeur et je pense vraiment que je peux gagner le tournoi."

http://www.welovetennis.fr/atp/38021-simon-veut-le-top-10
(in french could be translated by google)

Simon's will be motivated in north american tour to get maximum points to be top10...

G. SIMON/T. Bellucci

6-3, 6-2

An interview with:

GILLES SIMON


THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please.

Q. Well, your start was very convincing. Are you happy?
GILLES SIMON: It's not my first match on clay, but it's my first match here in this tournament, and it was good. It was a good match, 6 3, 6 2. I'm happy. It was a good fight.
I knew I had to play well because every time I dropped my level of game, he was coming back. So it was a good first round.

Q. You seemed very relaxed for your first match at 10:00 in the morning. You were in a good state of mind?
GILLES SIMON: I'm working on this (smiling). I felt good during practice lately. I knew that player could be a problem for me. But he has a style of game that adapts to mine.
I knew I could win.

Q. It's your 200th victory. Do you remember them at all?
GILLES SIMON: More or less. I remember the finals. I remember the victories against the top players more than the losses against lower ranked players, even if those losses were also useful for me to learn from.

Q. Is this 200th victory going to be a special memory for you?
GILLES SIMON: No. I played well [oops]. It was a solid match, but nothing striking about that match.

Q. Do you remember last time you won a doubles match?
GILLES SIMON: Three years ago? I never play doubles. I don't like it.

Q. Wasn't it with Safin?
GILLES SIMON: Oh, yes, right, Safin.
But during the whole year, I didn't play a single doubles match because I had problems with my knee and it was already difficult to play the singles so I didn't play doubles. I'm not good at doubles.

Q. But don't you believe this could happen you, playing doubles?
GILLES SIMON: The only thing it brings me is to get annoyed and frustrated.
But in Estoril I will play doubles.

Q. Oh, we'll watch that.
GILLES SIMON: It's going to be quick, don't worry (smiling).

Q. For your next round, who do you think?
GILLES SIMON: Albert, because I think it's Albert. Xavier can play well, too.

Q. He has a regular clay court game?
GILLES SIMON: Yes, he's very consistent. He covers the court well. He improved his backhand a lot. He's a solid player. He won tournaments lately. He had a win against Roger last year.

Q. What did you like most in your game today?
GILLES SIMON: The beginning of my match, I was relaxed.

Q. You're imitating Federer, being so relaxed?
GILLES SIMON: He does that better than I do (smiling).
Being relaxed is not a given for everyone. Anyway, I do not have time to watch Roger play, so you can tell me if I imitate him well or not.

Q. We call you 'the guy from Nice.' What are your ties with that city?
GILLES SIMON: I have a lot of members of my family here, my grandparents, cousins. I was born here, although I didn't grow up here. My parents did. I often come back here. So it's very nice for me to play in front of my grandparents because they only see me play here and in Marseille. It's something extra to this tournament for me.

Frenchman Gilles Simon ended a run of three first-round exits at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and marked his 200th tour-level win in emphatic style on Tuesday as he dismissed Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-2 in the first match on Court Central.

The No. 16 seed saved six of the seven break points he faced and capitalised on four of his five opportunities to seal victory in one hour and 33 minutes. It marked his first win at the Monte-Carlo Country Club since his debut in 2006, when he reached the third round (l. to Ljubicic).

"It was a good match. I'm happy," said Simon. "It was a good fight. I knew I had to play well because every time I dropped my level of game, he was coming back. So it was a good first round."

Reflecting on his 200 victories, Simon commented, "I remember the finals. I remember the victories against the top players more than the losses against lower-ranked players, even if those losses were also useful for me to learn from."

The 26-year-old Simon, who won his eighth ATP World Tour title at the start of the season in Sydney (d. Troicki), improved to a 16-9 match record in 2011. He is coming off back-to-back quarter-final showings in Miami (l. to Federer) and Casablanca (l. to Starace).

Simon will next face World No. 23 Albert Montanes after the Spaniard cruised past Belgian Xavier Malisse 6-4, 6-2 in 82 minutes. The 30-year-old Montanes is coming off a season-best semi-final showing in Casablanca (l. to Andujar) last week.

Former World No. 6 Gilles Simon made a quarter-final exit on Friday evening. The third-seeded Frenchman fell to fifth seed Potito Starace of Italy 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and 20 minutes. It was the pair's first meeting since November 2007 at the BNP Paribas Open at Paris.

I made mistake, Simon will play Casablanca. :)

ATP Casablanca 2011: Former World No. 6 Gilles Simon recorded a second win this year over Portuguese Frederico Gil. The third seed converted both break points he created for a 6-3, 6-4 win in 84 minutes. Simon beat No. 83-ranked Gil en route to his eighth ATP World Tour title at the Medibank International Sydney (d. Troicki) in January. He has a 15-8 season record.

Gilles Simon, retired with a stiff neck trailing 0-3 in SF of Miami 2011, vs. Federer. He will not play Casablanca next week.

Gilles Simon is one of the toughest players on tour to beat when he’s at his best. He may not be considered to have one defining shot, but possesses the firepower and intelligence to hit toe-to-toe with the likes of Robin Soderling and Tomas Berdych.

The former World No. 6 has won eight ATP World Tour titles, reached the semi-finals of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in 2008 and is approaching 200 tour-level singles wins. Out for a large stretch of last season with a recurring knee issue, the Frenchman is now hitting his stride, and has moved back inside the Top 30 of the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings for the first time since May 2010.

We caught up with the No. 25 seed at the Sony Ericsson Open after his 6-4, 6-3 second round victory over qualifier Rainer Schuettler on Saturday.

You began year with a title in Sydney and a five-set clash with Roger Federer at the Australian Open. How do you feel about your form coming into Miami compared to last year when you were here, struggling with injuries?
I’m feeling pretty good. I’ve had some consistent results so far. It’s definitely feels much better than last year with the knee problems I had. In Marseille last year, I felt pain in my knee. After Dubai, I flew to the States and struggled, especially in Miami. After losing there, I had a second surgery and was out for three months.

This year has been nice so far. My ranking has moved up and it’s hard to do that when you haven’t played a full year of tennis in a row. I have no points to defend until Wimbledon, so I’m aiming to continue playing well and improve my ranking even more.

Your son was born during the US Open in 2010. What has this life-changing event meant to you and has it changed your approach to the game in any way?
It’s the best thing that could have ever happened to me. It’s wonderful having a family, and I really love it when Timothee and Carine are with me at the tournaments.

It hasn’t really changed how I look at the game. Unfortunately when you’re on court, you have to focus on tennis. But I miss them when they’re not traveling with me. I remember last week when I lost at Indian Wells, I had to wait ten days… it was a long wait. I was so happy when my family arrived here.

You’re one of a handful of players to have a least one victory over each of the current Top 5. What is it about your game that makes you a formidable opponent?
I’m more confident when I play the top opponents. It’s a strength, but also a weakness; my level and confidence is higher when I play the best players and I always seem to bring out my greatest tennis in those match-ups.

With the lower-ranked players, it’s more complicated. Like today, I was up 5-1, 40-15 and then all of a sudden it was 5-2, 5-3, 5-4… it’s almost impossible for me to win a match 6-2, 6-2!

I’m told you like McDonalds. What makes you crave their food? Do you have a favorite item on the menu and does France have anything unique that’s not here in the States?
Haha. McDonalds is perfect. It doesn’t look good to some people but I love it. The best thing about McDonalds is you can find one anywhere. When I spend two, three hours on court playing tennis, I can eat whatever I want because I deserve to.

Even when I was injured last year, I was eating it. It didn’t go down so well with my wife… she doesn’t like it. But I wasn’t gaining any weight and when I play tennis, I work hard, so why not eat there?

I don’t have a clear favorite item but I like the McBacon. To answer your question, this is something I get in France and I haven’t seen in the US. They should add it to their restaurants over here!

Gilles Simon, who has pulled out of the French, says he's already started training on hardcourts for a comeback later in the season.

For those not speaking French, Gilles Simon is out for at least another month due to a right knee injury. He's not sure he can make it in time for Roland Garros.

Courtesy of L'equipe
April 07, 2010

Simon s'arrête un mois
Gilles Simon a annoncé lors d'une conférence de presse mercredi matin qu'il devait faire une pause d'environ un mois à cause de sa blessure au genou droit. Le 26e mondial est très incertain pour Roland-Garros.

Il y a beaucoup de tristesse mais aussi de résignation chez Gilles Simon. Le Français est au repos forcé et, désormais il ne rejouera plus tant que le tendon ne sera pas entièrement cicatrisé, même si cela signifie manquer Roland-Garros. «J'ai fait des examens qui ne se sont pas révélés très bons puisque ma blessure s'est aggravée. C'est la première fois pour moi que ça arrive depuis maintenant 8 mois. On avait fait tous les efforts possibles mais ça n'a pas suffi. Je suis obligé de prendre une pause d'une durée encore indéterminée, qui sera au moins de quatre semaines. Cela me rend évidemment incertain pour Roland-Garros», a ainsi expliqué d'entrée le Tricolore.

«Gilles, étant donné tout ce qui s'est passé depuis le début, est-ce que vous avez des regrets ?
Non, aucun sur la fin de saison. J'aurais peut-être pu m'arrêter plus longtemps en début de saison... Si je n'avais pas été aussi pressé de rejouer à chaque fois. C'est sûr que c'est maintenant facile de se dire que si je m'étais arrêté dès le début il n'y aurait maintenant plus rien mais ça aurait impliqué de ne pas jouer la tournée aux Etats-Unis. Mais quand j'ai repris la dernière fois tout était bon, je n'avais plus mal. Même si c'est très petit, ça montre qu'il faut attendre qu'il n'y ait plus rien du tout pour pouvoir rejouer. Avant ça continuait de cicatriser mais là c'est parti dans le mauvais sens. L'opération n'y changerait rien de toute manière. Comment quelque chose d'aussi petit peut me faire autant mal, voilà la question. Mais c'est comme ça...

Est-ce qu'il y a une autre solution envisageable que le repos pour le moment ?
Non, on va continuer les soins suivant le même protocole. Il va falloir cette fois être hyper prudent sur la reprise, attendre de pouvoir être capable d'enchaîner les entraînements à fond tous les jours. C'est assez pénible car quand j'ai repris j'ai eu un peu mal partout et je n'ai pas pu tester mon genou à fond. Mais quand le reste s'est résolu, et avec deux matches à fond, mon genou a lâché. On ne maîtrise jamais le temps de cicatrisation mais cette fois je serai plus prudent. Même s'il y a Roland.

Moralement, comment vivez-vous cette situation ?
Ce n'est pas facile ! Mais je n'ai pas tellement le choix. J'ai fait ce qu'il fallait, c'était presque parti, j'avais gagné plein de puissance dans les jambes donc c'était censé tenir. Mais ça n'a pas tenu donc voilà... Je ne jouerai pas tant que c'est là. Et puis ça va me faire du bien aussi de faire une pause car mentalement j'ai fait énormément d'efforts pour me conditionner à faire de mon mieux tout le temps. Dans la tête j'y étais à fond donc ça ne va pas me faire de mal de penser à autre chose. Ces quatre-cinq derniers mois ont été trop pénibles, d'être intermittent du circuit comme ça. Maintenant la priorité c'est d'être à 100%.

On imagine bien que se présenter à Roland-Garros quasiment sans préparation n'est pas idéal : si vous deviez donner un pourcentage sur vos chances de participation ?
Ce n'est pas facile à chiffrer mais ce serait très faible. Je n'ai pas envie de dire dès aujourd'hui que je ne jouerai pas s'il n'y a ne serait-ce qu'1% de chance. Maintenant si je ne joue pas au tennis pendant quatre semaines avec Roland dans six semaines... Si ça implique de rater tous ces tournois que j'avais envie de jouer et évidemment Roland, je n'aurai pas le choix. Ce sera difficile d'être prêt, mais on ne sait jamais il peut y avoir un miracle. Le pourcentage est vraiment très minime. De toute manière je me suis bien rendu compte que lorsque je n'étais pas à 100% je ne battais personne. Maintenant je ne suis pas inquiet, je sais que ça va se remettre car l'inflammation a déjà bien diminué depuis ses débuts. Il faut juste attendre...»