Here we go again. 2013 Season begins...This year a new adventure for Gilles as he's going solo. Hopefully, he's healthy and ready. I'm preparing for another roller coaster ride as long as the ride isn't too bumpy for the stomach .
First stop, Brisbane.
(1) Andy Murray (GBR) vs Bye
Tatsuma Ito (JPN) vs Qualifier
Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs (WC) Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)
(8) Martin Klizan (SVK) vs Denis Istomin (UZB)
(4) Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) vs Bye
Julien Benneteau (FRA) vs Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)
Tommy Robredo (ESP) vs Qualifier
(5) Kei Nishikori (JPN) vs Marinko Matosevic (AUS)
(6) Florian Mayer (GER) vs Santiago Giraldo (COL)
(WC) Benjamin Mitchell (AUS) vs Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)
Qualifier vs Alejandro Falla (COL) (3) Gilles Simon (FRA) vs Bye
(7) Jurgen Melzer (AUT) vs Qualifier
(WC) Matthew Ebden (AUS) vs David Goffin (BEL)
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) vs Brian Baker (USA)
(2) Milos Raonic (CAN) vs Bye
Re: 2013 Australia, new adventure begins in Down Under
I never did post after Simon's victory in R3. That was really something . He couldn't do anything with his serves except get them over the net and he still won :tears:.
Don't listen to the nasty people . I won't be watching his R4 match sadly (Gilles is not the reason ) and he'll probably lose, but best of luck anyway .
Re: 2013 Australia, new adventure begins in Down Under
I know a lot of people wouldn't bother watching this match but I'd like to know how he is.
Gilles looks ok you guys except extremely tired and still coughing a lot + stuffy nose. Other than than he doesn't seem to have any specific pain.
He plays a little bit more agressive than usual and resulted in lots of UE. He's coming to the net more to, surprisingly with some successful volleys.
Gilles moves Andy around. Andy is not even trying hard, he's in his comfortable defensive shell. Result would be inevitable (I'm watch set 3 now, Andy won set 1&2 comfortably).
Re: 2013 Australia, new adventure begins in Down Under
I'm watching.
He started the match moving half the pace than usual, and now he's barely moving at the 3rd set. I know the result is inevitable, but at least he's still trying. Mr. Wilander thinks he should retire at 2-4 down in the 3rd set. Ummm, I don't think so.
*well, I think that's Wilander, based on the voice. Maybe someone can confirm who's the commentator in Eurosport. anyways....
Re: 2013 Australia, new adventure begins in Down Under
Good fight and good tournament Gilles! Sad to see him in this condition but hopefully with some rest and proper training he can get back into his best shape again. It wasn't a good performance but he didn't embarrass himself.
Re: 2013 Australia, new adventure begins in Down Under
I'm thoroughly ok with this. I didn't think he was going to be able to pull off the win against Monfils, but he did and after that, I was more than satisfied. He has nothing to hang his head about. If this were Gasquet or Monfils, they probably wouldn't have even bothered to come out and give it a go today, but not Simon.
With a chest cold and no preparation coming into this event and being able to make it to the 4th round anyway which is where we figured he would make it if he was healthy is an awesome accomplishment. It also ties with 3 other 4th round appearances as his second best showing at a major. All and all not bad. He will get a good amount of points to to help push him up the rankings seeing as how he's made it two rounds better than last year's 2nd round loss. So hats off to you Gilles. Thanks for a wonderful 2013 Australian Open.
Oh and I'm not even going to bother looking in the other thread this time.
Re: 2013 Australia, new adventure begins in Down Under
This is pretty much sum up his character:
@Kamakshi_Tandon
Gilles Simon limping along after Monfils, official offers to have him wheeled back to lockerroom. Shakes head. 'I still have... my pride.'
@Kamakshi_Tandon
Gilles Simon limping along after Monfils, official offers to have him wheeled back to lockerroom. Shakes head. 'I still have... my pride.'
Yeah, I went on twitter and typed in her handle and found the tweet with a link to the espn article and here's the exact full quote from Simon highlighted in bold:
--Gilles Simon was limping back to the locker room after his five-set win over Gael Monfils on Saturday night. After 4 hours, 23 minutes, the Frenchman could barely move and had to lean on a helper as he walked. But he shook his head when offered a wheelchair.
"I still have," he began, then broke off, searching his fuzzy brain for the English word, "my pride."
And onward he limped.--
Love him even more.:inlove: It's stuff like that that guarantees my loyalty to him for life. He could drop out of the top 100. I don't care. Character, heart, wil etc. all goes along way for me.
Re: 2013 Australia, new adventure begins in Down Under
Yes, despite the scoreline, it wasn't that bad, granted, Andy played pretty crappy too. Gilles did what he could, which is not much, so he came to the net half the time. But anyway, I'm glad that he got thru the match and didn't look like he did more damage to himself, that's pretty much all I've hoped for in this match.
Although I do feel a little disappointed that it's another slam and another slam that he didn't get further than usual, eventhough he did live up to his ranking. I just wish he can be healthy for the next slam. 2 slams in a roll he battled with health issues going in and every match he played was in some sort of agony. I'm really just feeling bad for him. Plus I think some ppl didn't know him much probably start to think that he can only serve 160km/h first serve . He really needs a break from these injuries. Gilles . I'm really proud of him for gutting out those injuries, and at the same time, I felt gutted that he can't never be healthy to perform up to his highest level. I wish something can happen that he will stop having that neck issue all the time. Well, anyway, rest well Gilles. I kinda hope that he doesn't need to go to D.C. (although feeling extremely bad that I wish that knowing how much he wants to be part of D.C.). I wish he will rest up well for the European indoor season.
Re: 2013 Australia, new adventure begins in Down Under
Here's a small piece of his post match interview after his match with Murray yesterday confirming what we all already knew. He also gives his thoughts on Murray's chances at winning this major and his fellow countrymen Chardy's chances at maybe pulling another upset win.
Re: 2013 Australia, new adventure begins in Down Under
Sigh, looks like it's going to be Guy Forget all over again. Oh well, he can just focus on himself and his own success. They don't appreciate him enough in my opinion anyway so why bother.
Re: 2013 Australia, new adventure begins in Down Under
He's probably the least appreciated player of his generation, particularly in his home country, but there's nothing that he can do to change it so it's not worth worrying about it. It's good for him to be able to recover physically.
He's probably the least appreciated player of his generation, particularly in his home country, but there's nothing that he can do to change it so it's not worth worrying about it.
Re: 2013 Australia, new adventure begins in Down Under
I don't think he was a good option for the team. I'm surprised some people are blaming Clément already. He's not well physically and he wasn't playing well in Australia contrary to Gasquet, Tsonga and Chardy. No way he's gonna in the doubles team so this is fair not to be in the team. It's better for him to rest.
Re: 2013 Australia, new adventure begins in Down Under
I don't know. I think there is something to it. Why would the US commentators say it if there wasn't some truth to it?:shrug: It's not like it benefits them in any way by saying it. It may not be entirely true, but perception is reality and if there is any truth to it or the perception of that being the case, then there must be some truth to it. And as you can see, several of us get that perception.
For me personally, I get the sense of it and see it. The FFT seems to much prefer to gush over Monfils and Tsonga these days than Simon. They like guys who are flashy and have pizazz in their game. Who are aggressive and have a lot of power and take the initiative to when rallies rather than counterpunch. Simon is just that other French guy that's out there doing his thing.
Since he offers a no frills approach to tennis (in their eyes) and, admittedly, is pretty subdued on the court, unless he's angry or fidgety of course, showing very little emotion following good shots and not being a braggart, they don't tend to pay him as much attention or mind. That's the way it comes off to me. It was a lot like Nikolay Davydenko compared to Safin and just in general. A great player not payed much attention or at least the attention he deserved given his ranking and caliber as a player. Basically Simon is taken for granted in my, and some others, opinion is the feeling and perception and the FFT and press etc. don't tend to make it that hard to believe that that is the case. At least not these days.
I don't know. I think there is something to it. Why would the US commentators say it if there wasn't some truth to it?:shrug: It's not like it benefits them in any way by saying it. It may not be entirely true, but perception is reality and if there is any truth to it or the perception of that being the case, then there must be some truth to it. And as you can see, several of us get that perception.
For me personally, I get the sense of it and see it. The FFT seems to much prefer to gush over Monfils and Tsonga these days than Simon. They like guys who are flashy and have pizazz in their game. Who are aggressive and have a lot of power and take the initiative to when rallies rather than counterpunch. Simon is just that other French guy that's out there doing his thing.
Since he offers a no frills approach to tennis (in their eyes) and, admittedly, is pretty subdued on the court, unless he's angry or fidgety of course, showing very little emotion following good shots and not being a braggart, they don't tend to pay him as much attention or mind. That's the way it comes off to me. It was a lot like Nikolay Davydenko compared to Safin and just in general. A great player not payed much attention or at least the attention he deserved given his ranking and caliber as a player. Basically Simon is taken for granted in my, and some others, opinion is the feeling and perception and the FFT and press etc. don't tend to make it that hard to believe that that is the case. At least not these days.
I don't agree with you either.
Clearly, the US commentators don't know much about him or his tennis when he's playing at his best (during the Fish match at the Us Open for example, one commentator asking to the other guy if Gilles always played this way and he answered "yes" whereas he had a shoulder injury and played at about 50% lol, it's just one example) and they don't live in France anymore so...
Also, he's generally well appreciated and is considered as a "good customer" in interviews by the french medias because he's rather an intelligent guy and generally describe very well his matches (i've read some interesting particular interviews from him in l'Equipe Magazine as well).
But, he's clearly less known than Tsonga, Monfils and Gasquet in France by the general public and has slightly less medias coverage because he's less charismatic and is lacking great results in GS particularly at Roland Garros.
Re: 2013 Australia, new adventure begins in Down Under
I don't agree with you.
Gilles doesn't like to be in the flashlight and I think he's fine with that situation.
Nobody blames him. He may not get as much attention as others but that's what he wants too.
Actually, I believe Gilles needs to reach the final of a slam or have an amazing Roland Garros or do something special for Davis Cup to be treated the way Gaël and Jo are.
Gilles doesn't like to be in the flashlight and I think he's fine with that situation.Nobody blames him. He may not get as much attention as others but that's what he wants too.
Gilles doesn't want to have the life of Jo or Gael. For exemple he refuses the adverts, he refuses to talk about him too much. He often repeat he's happy not to be them.
Re: 2013 Australia, new adventure begins in Down Under
Gilles doesn't want to have the life of Jo or Gael. For exemple he refuses the adverts, he refuses to talk about him too much. He often repeat he's happy not to be them.
He's less famous also because he wants it and of course because of his game and his personnality. Then I think is well treated by french medias.
(8) Paire vs Qualifier
(WC) Mannarino vs Darcis
Mathieu vs Kukushkin (4) Simon vs Bye
(7) Troicki vs (WC) Pouille
Hajek vs Sela
Qualifier vs Llodra
(2) Tipsarevic vs Bye
Can't say if the draw is good or bad, Gilles doesn't like playing fellow frenchman, Mathieu on R2 and Paire on QF can be really tricky ( Gilles has a negative H2H with both), but I guess SF's or even the final if he's playing well are pretty doable.
Cant really complain at the draw, all the tougher seeds in the other half and Monfils. With 10 of the 28 players in the draw French, he was going to draw some french players along the way.
I'm hoping for a SF minimum.
He is also in the doubles draw. Just think how much money Simon has earned over the years with all the 1st round loser doubles money he has collected lol.
I prefer the team of Simon/Chardy myself. Chardy has the serve and Simon has the baseline game. I believe they've had the most success of anyone he's paired with recently too.
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