By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday May 26, 2022

 

Gilles Simon is having a dream week in Paris, exceeding expectations by reaching round three.

Photo Source: Getty

Gilles Simon entered Roland-Garros with the lowest expectations he has ever had going into a Slam, but somehow the 37-year-old has found a certain je ne sais quoi and ambled through two rounds at Roland-Garros, starting with a five-set upset of No.16-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta in front of a wild and crazy after hours crowd on Court Simonne-Mathieu.



Today it was a straight sets second-round takedown of American Steve Johnson, 7-5, 6-1, 7-6(6) to reach the third round for the first time since 2018.

Simon, a former World No.6 currently ranked 158, will retire at the end of the season. But for now he’s getting prepped for a third-round matchup with Marin Cilic, and hoping he has another surprise performance in him.

No matter what happens, this year’s Roland-Garros has far exceeded his expectations.

“I was really worried before the tournament, because as you mentioned, the results were not great before the tournament,” Simon told reporters on Thursday in Paris. “It's not like you come full of confidence and ready to play and fight against anyone.

No, I just wanted to enjoy it one more time. I really thought it would be one match, actually. You can trust me on this. I was sure I would lose this first round.”

Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga have brought emotions to the fore during week one in Paris. Both beloved players have performed admirably and crowds have revelled in their tennis, sending shockwaves - and soundwaves - careening through the grounds.

“I wanted to enjoy it,” Simon said. “I wanted to be good enough. I wanted to make a decent performance. I wanted to have a match, to have rallies.”

Simon points out the difference between himself, playing out the rest of the season, and Tsonga, who officially ended his career with Monday’s loss to Casper Ruud on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

“It's not my last match anyway when I lose here,” he said. “It's not like Jo, it's a different feeling. It's just my last French Open and I want to enjoy it, and to enjoy it, you need to perform.” So I had a very nice surprise that I was able to perform much better than expected. Good enough to beat a player like Pablo in the first round and like Stevie now. So I have one chance. One more match, at least one more match to play, maybe again after, but one more match against Marin. It's going to be long, hard, as every time.

“But I'm really happy to have the chance to come back in front of the crowd one more time.”

Gaston Makes Two Frenchman into Third Round

Hugo Gaston may indeed be one of the bright spots of French tennis for years to come, a potential star in the making.

The 21-year-old World No.74 has proven to be a whiz when it comes to playing in Paris (he reached the round of 16 on his main draw debut in 2020 and also reached the quarterfinals at the Masters event in Paris Bercy last October), and he continued his fine form on Thursday with a second-round victory over Pedro Cashin of Argentina, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

Gaston will face 19-year-old Holger Rune, the other 19-year-old men’s singles player making waves (along with the highly esteemed Carlos Alcaraz) in the third round. Gaston took out Alex de Minaur in the first round, in a fifth-set tiebreak, and afterwards made the chivalric move of asking the crowd on Court Suzanne-Lenglen to sing Happy Birthday to his girlfriend.

They did so, with verve. It was a very Roland-Garros moment.

“Rune, he's the same age as Alcaraz, he's probably under the radar a little bit more than Alcaraz and he's won his first title recently, he plays really well,” said Gaston. “I know him, we've practiced together and I've played doubles with him this year. He hits the ball really hard and it's going to be a very tough match, but it's going to be a great moment.