Auger-Aliassime ends Gilles Simon’s career, reaches quarter-finals at Paris Masters

Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime sent French wildcard Gilles Simon into retirement as he beat him 6-1, 6-3 on Thursday to move into the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters at the Accor Arena.

The 37-year-old Simon had postponed his retirement with unlikely, fantastic wins over Andy Murray and Taylor Fritz but he had nothing left physically and Auger-Aliassime romped to victory. He’ll play American Frances Tiafoe next.

The Canadian is chasing a fourth straight title after three wins in three weeks, a run of form that has helped him to secure a place in the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin.

Simon says goodbye in style

In his on-court speech, Simon said it was the perfect way to go out.

“Felix, you are the best of all, a great person and I hope you (the crowd) will support him,” he said. “I’m happy to finish against you and I wish you the best for the future.

“I also want to thank the Federation, thank you for giving me the opportunity to play one last time here because I didn’t have the ranking. You gave me my chance and I managed to take it. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, it was really very important for me.

“”Thank you to the crowd for supporting me throughout the match, from the beginning. The purpose of being able to play one last French Open, one last Bercy, was to enjoy you one last time with great emotions and to play great matches. I had great emotions and it’s thanks to you, a huge thank you, I play tennis also for that.”

Auger-Aliassime edged out Swede qualifier Mikael Ymer (6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (6)) ahead of his victory.

Paris Masters 1000, other last 16 results (Accor Arena, EUR 5.415.410, most recent results first):

• Pablo Carreno Busta vs. Tommy Paul
• Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Corentin Moutet
• Novak Djokovic vs. Karen Khachanov
• Holger Rune beat Andrey Rublev (7): 6-4, 7-5
• Carlos Alcaraz (1) beat Grigor Dimitrov: 6-1, 6-3
• Frances Tiafoe beat Alex De Minaur: 6-3, 7-6 (5)
• Lorenzo Musetti beat Casper Ruud (3): 4-6, 6-4, 6-4