Gilles Simon

Born: December 27, 1984 in Nice (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur)
Height: 1.83 m
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)

The most remarkable week of Simon’s career occurred during the 2008 Madrid Masters 1000 event (the last edition on hardcourts indoors). At 23 years old, Simon had already spent four seasons on the ATP tour, but his knack for winning tight matches hadn’t yet turned many heads. What made this week extraordinary was his ability to win four matches decided by final-set tie-breaks, in spite of winning only one match of this kind at the ATP level before. Even more astonishing, Simon navigated multiple super tough situations, repeatedly escaping near-defeat: he saved triple match point against Igor Andreev and double match point against Robby Ginepri. He also overcame deficits in the deciders against Ivo Karlović (down *0:3) and Rafael Nadal (down 2:4*), the latter being his most impressive career victory. That marathon semifinal against Nadal lasted 3 hours and 23 minutes, with Simon also on the verge of losing the second set. Even though he seemed to be totally spent, Simon created a double set point in the final against Andy Murray, pushing his limits in a gruelling encounter. [ The skinny Frenchman waited six years to play his another final at this level, in Shanghai. ] Simon’s tremendous fighting spirit was first noted in 2006, his first full ATP season, when he overcame strong players like Nicolás Massú (Aussie Open) and Tomáš Berdych (Monte Carlo) despite cramping in the deciding sets. This resilience became one of Simon’s trademarks throughout his career, allowing him to grind out tough matches even when physically compromised. A testament to his patience and tenacity was strongly evident for example at the Australian Open in 2013, where he engaged in one of the longest rallies in history, lasting 72 strokes nearly two minutes, against Gaël Monfils, and ultimately defeated his compatriot under five hours struggling with his right forearm.
From technical point of view, Simon’s hallmark was his backhand. Unlike most two-handed players who occasionally mix in a slice, Simon almost never used one, relying instead on fantastic anticipation and timing to thrive in long baseline exchanges. However, this style had its downside, as his backhand volley response to well-executed passing shots left something to be desired. In my view, Simon was a “poor man’s Murray.” Their approach to the game: endurance, flat ground-strokes, and strategic point construction – was similar, but Murray generally edged Simon in every facet of the game, particularly in serves and backhand volleys. This explains Simon’s 3-16 (ten straight defeats one-sided) Head-to-Head record against Murray, despite their stylistic similarities.
Simon’s last two years, coinciding with the post-COVID period, were marked by very poor performances, but in his final season, he found the inner spirit to win two dramatic first-round matches in Paris against much higher ranked opponents, pleasing the home crowd – first at Roland Garros against Pablo Carreño Busta (trailed *2:4 in the 5th set), and later against his nemesis Murray at Paris-Bercy (trailed 4-6, 3:5*).
With a wink: if Simon was a “poor man’s Murray,” then Andreas Seppi was a “poor man’s Simon.” The eleven months older Italian from South Tyrol met Simon six times and never managed to come away with a win. Both players rank in the Top 10 for most main-level events played in the Open Era. In my opinion, both Simon and Seppi could be considered among the best players born in the 1980s, if the underarm serve had been part of the rulebook as a necessity while dropshots and attacking the net forbidden.
Simon’s consistency over the years, his ability to perform well on all surfaces, and his frequent appearances in major tournaments between 2006 and 2020 make it surprising that he never reached a Grand Slam semifinal (he only played two quarterfinals: Aussie Open ’09 and Wimbledon ’15). Despite his modest Slam record (very good percentage-wise though: 60%), Simon won an impressive number of ATP titles throughout his career. In fact, he captured as many titles as two more famous French compatriots, Henri Leconte and Cédric Pioline combined. His title at Hamburg ’11 is arguably the biggest of his career, as it held ATP 500 status. Notably, he was undefeated in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, during three trips there within six years, with his last victory there coming in 2012 when he built a remarkable 10-2 record in the ATP finals.

Career record: 504-394 [ 398 events ]
Career titles: 14
Highest ranking: No. 6
Best GS results:
Australian Open (quarterfinal 2009)
Wimbledon (quarterfinal 2015)