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Biography |
Gilles Simon is a French professional tennis player who is
currently ranked World No. 10 and French No. 1 as of October
2008. After turning pro in 2002, it took him five years to
claim his first ATP Tour title, the 2007 Marseille Open. To
date, he has won five ATP tournaments. In the second round
of the 2008 Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada, he upset World
No. 1 Roger Federer in three sets. In the 2008 Madrid
Masters, he defeated World No. 1 Rafael Nadal in 3 sets to
reach the finals.
Simon began his professional tennis career in the summer of
2002, starting with Futures tournaments held throughout
France before gradually branching out to other countries. He
won his first Futures title in Lisbon, Portugal, in June
2003, and reached the quarterfinals of three other
tournaments before capturing his second title in Jamaica in
September of the same year. During 2004 he saw three wins in
France and another in Algeria, thus collecting a total of 3
hard, 2 clay, and 1 carpet Future titles.
Simon is one of the eight men to beat both Roger Federer and
Rafael Nadal since they assumed the #1 and #2 positions; the
other six men being David Nalbandian,Tomáš Berdych, Novak
Đoković, Fernando González, Andy Roddick, Andy Murray, James
Blake. He managed to do this feat in two Masters Series
events in Canada and Madrid.
Simon is one of the four men to beat Roger Federer, Rafael
Nadal and Novak Djokovic since they assumed #1, #2 and #3
positions; the others being Andy Roddick, Andy Murray and
David Nalbandian.
In January 2005, he won his first ATP Challenger tournament
(on hard court) in Nouméa, New Caledonia, and defended it
the following year.
Ranked as World No. 113, Simon made his Grand Slam debut at
the 2005 French Open, but lost in the first round to
compatriot Olivier Patience in four sets. |
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since October 27, 2008