“Mentally you have a huge amount of pressure" - Simon happy to say goodbye

Friday, 04 November 2022 at 19:30

Updated at Friday, 04 November 2022 at 17:50

byJamie Malachy

14-time ATP Tour titlist, Gilles Simon, has retired from professional tennis in front of warm home crowd support in Paris, after 20 years in the sport.

The former World No. 4 put in a memorable display in his last tournament, coming back from a set and a break down in the first round to beat Andy Murray in front of an ecstatic French crowd. The Frenchman then followed that up with an unlikely and brilliant three-set win over ninth seed, Taylor Fritz.

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But last night in the quarter-finals, he ran into arguably the most in-form player on tour. Despite a valiant effort, Simon eventually went down 6-1 6-3 to Auger-Aliassime, drawing a formal close to his two-decade career.

The Frenchman spoke passionately about his affection for the game during post-match speech.

"I just feel so lucky to have been a tennis player. It's what I have always wanted to be," Simon said."I was a professional tennis player for a long time, and that's why I was lucky twice and I could stop when I wanted, and so I have been lucky three times."

He went on to say, “I just always loved tennis and it’s very interesting for me. It’s a very interesting game. So many things on so many levels. Physically, technically, mentally, everything. It’s a very nice sport, it’s the best sport obviously! Some tennis players would tell you that they play tennis, but they would have been happy to play something else, but this is not my case."

“Mentally you have a huge amount of pressure because you are alone. It is not a team sport,” Simon explained. “Some days you feel good, and you feel invincible. And some days you are the worst athlete on Earth, and you cannot perform anything.”

Gilles Simon will leave the sport he loves with a 504-394 tour-level record. But he will be remembered more for his unique tactics, his tennis acumen, and this courageous final run to the last eight of the Paris Masters.