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5/25/08 2:18 AM | David Cox
Gilles Simon ensured that he goes into Roland Garros with the best possible preparation, defeating compatriot Julien Benneteau 7-5, 6-2 in just over an hour to claim his 3rd ATP title
With 7 wins this week he’s atoned for a few disappointing defeats this year and coming through some tough matches early in the week will give him a lot of belief. It certainly helped in the early stages when Benneteau threatened to take control of the first set breaking to go 3-2 up. However, Simon leveled in the next game and it was really anyone’s set until Simon stepped things up in game 12 with Benneteau serving to stay in it at 5-6. Two crunching backhand winners gave Simon 2 set points and another stunning backhand on the first gave him the lead.
He remained dominant in set 2, quickly snuffing out any hopes Benneteau may have had of a revival. He went 2-0 up and that soon became 5-2 before another break gave Simon the title.
It took Simon a while to find his A game, in set 2 he was much more aggressive, stepping up the court and bossing the points. Today Benenteau didn’t have many answers
“It wasn't an easy match. We were both a bit tense in the beginning,“ said Simon. ”It's never easy to play your best tennis in the final right from the beginning, it's not easy mentally. Even though he broke me near the beginning I succeeded in focusing on what I wanted to do. I played a very good game at the end of the first set and that helped in the second set. I'm happy because today I was pretty solid in the important moments. I came here to get some matches under my belt. I added this tournament to my schedule pretty late which meant that I had to play two more matches in the qualifying. Even though I was a qualifier this week, I knew that in theory I was the second highest ranked player in the tournament. I came here to win the title.“
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Did you know that... Guillermo Vilas won 46 consecutive matches during 1977.
sstay, Sep 8, 2008 9:32 AM
mara2, Sep 8, 2008 7:00 AM
RafaNadalGirl20, Sep 8, 2008 6:50 AM
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DdV, Sep 7, 2008 5:43 PM
DdV, Sep 7, 2008 5:36 PM
Did you know that... Lleyton Hewitt won an ATP-title in Adelaide 1998, ranked as number 550 in the world.
sstay, Sep 8, 2008 9:32 AM
mara2, Sep 8, 2008 7:00 AM
RafaNadalGirl20, Sep 8, 2008 6:50 AM
BernieEliza, Sep 8, 2008 5:47 AM
BernieEliza, Sep 8, 2008 5:42 AM
kaitepai, Sep 8, 2008 6:04 AM
DdV, Sep 7, 2008 5:43 PM
DdV, Sep 7, 2008 5:36 PM
Gilles Simon
Julien Benneteau
Grand Prix Hassan II
