Paris Masters: Simon advances to second round, defeating Murray in final tournament of his career

Gilles Simon defeated Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Monday evening. He’ll face American Taylor Fritz, the No 9 seed, in the next round

Gilles Simon, Rolex Paris Masters 2022 | © Federico Pestellini / Panoramic

Tennis Majors

October 31, 2022

Much to the delight of the Parisian crowd, French wildcard Gilles Simon moved into the second round of the Paris Masters by beating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 at the Accor Arena on Monday evening.

Murray, ranked No 48, led 6-4, 5-3, 15-0 on his serve but Simon did not give up as is family and friends egged him in what could have possibly been the last match of his career.

In the end, it was the Brit away who fell by the wayside as he appeared to complain to the umpire in the final game, before handing Simon the 4-6 7-5 6-3victory with a double-fault.

Simon noticed that Murray, 35, “dropped physically” as the match went on. “I felt it was harder for him. Little by little, I could take my chance. In the end, he couldn’t push on the first and second serves. In the past, he could play eight hours. The difference was more physical than tactical.”

Gilles Simon : “It’s becoming very very difficult”

The 37-year-old Frenchman, who announced that this will be the final tournament of his career, acknowledged that these are not easy times.

“These days are tough because tennis is my life since forever”, Simon said after the match. “Everything I do, maybe it’s for the last time. I try to enjoy but in reality, I’m very stressful.”

With fellow French tennis players including Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet in the stands, Simon repeated what he did at Roland-Garros just five months ago. He won two matches at his home Grand Slam against Pablo Carreno Busta and Steve Johnson, before losing to Marin Cilic.

“My level is fluctuating”, Simon said. “I still can play very well on good days, but this year I just couldn’t play three matches in a row at a good level. I lost very bad matches on the Challenger Tour. No one could see, fortunately. If it happened here, it would be another story.”

“On one hand, I do want to win. On the other hand, I do want to stop because it’s becoming very very difficult. I try not to overthink, just to do what I’ve always done. ‘You have a match, do your best and deal with how you feel now’.”

Simon, ranked No 188, will next face American Taylor Fritz, the No 9 seed, for a spot in the third round.

Paris Masters 1000, other first-round results (Accor Arena, EUR 5.415.410, most recent results first):