Gilles Simon bounces over Ryan Harrison in round one – French Open 2012
Crowd favourite, Gilles Simon, hit back to outshine the American youngster, Ryan Harrison, in four sets at the French Open 2012 on Monday. He summed up a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-1 victory against the 20-year-old to power into the second round at this Grand Slam
event which is held in Paris, France.
Seeded 11th in the tournament, Simon made a dismal start at this clay court Grand Slam event and lost his opening serve. However, he made a stunning reply and after pulling out the breadstick in the fourth set, the French sealed the deal and progressed
at this event.
Harrison thundered into these French clay courts and ruled the opening set. Despite failing to ward off the lone breakpoint he faced, the American cashed in both break chances and clicked the opener with a 6-3 win. He drew the first blood in the fourth game
and despite squandering his edge in the very next game, Harrison broke his opponent’s serve again in the eighth game.
12th ranked Simon got in action in the second set. Apart from losing his serve in the ninth game and trailing at 4-5, he stroke out the proceeding three games consecutively and sealed the set by winning seven games to five.
The 27-year-old kept momentum rolling into the third set. He tossed away his serve in the opening game but recovered in the fourth game to get back on track. Simon swiped in remaining serves after brushing off three breakpoints and got the breakthrough in
the last game to pocket the set with a 6-4 score line.
Simon’s skills were fully polished in the fourth set as he pulled out the breadstick with two breaks of serve.
All in all, the French manifested an equal first serve share of 56 per cent but magnificently availed 53 out of 74 points on it. He also smacked 36 massive winners and finished the match with 127 points.
He will next confront the American wildcard entrant, Brian Baker, who upset the Belgian star, Xavier Malisse, in straight sets to set-up this meeting. Simon needs to focus on his defences and play his original game to overpower the American.
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