Gilles Simon defeats Thomaz Bellucci; breezes into second round at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
16th seeded French Gilles Simon downed Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci in straight set on Tuesday. He registered a 6-3, 6-2 win over the 23-year-old Brazilian to advance to the second round in the 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
in Monaco.
Ranked 24th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour, Simon is in his top form and won the title earlier this season at Sydney after trashing 4th seeded Serb Viktor Troicki in straight sets. He then made
a quarter-final berth at Dubai, Miami and Casablanca before entering this tournament.
The 26-year-old triumphed over the Brazilian in straight sets at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin by displaying his tremendous skills and extended the lead in their head to head series by 2-0. In the opening set, Simon held his serve in the
first game plausibly. He then held his entire serves due to his amazing forehands and backhands from his arsenal of skills and broke the Brazilian’s serve in the sixth game to edge over Bellucci. He eventually won the set with a 6-3 score line by converting
the only breakpoint opportunity he found to his advantage and by saving both breakpoints he faced.
The Frenchman had a much better first serve share of 61 percent as compared to Bellucci’s 45 percent and he earned an impressive 77 percent win on it. Simon also committed fewer unforced errors i.e. 8 to Brazilian’s 18 and it made
the difference.
The Frenchman made quick in-roads into the second set and broke the Brazilian’s serve in the very first game. He then extended the lead by holding on to his serve in the next game. After his rival lowered the trail and held his
serve in the proceeding game, Simon kept his rage mode and reeled off next two games in a row. Though he lost his serve in the sixth games due to his several unforced errors but quickly snatched the brake back in the follow-up game to eventually clinch the
set with a 6-2 win.
Bellucci, who is just seven ranks below the French, was in good shape as well. He made a quarter-final berth at Auckland and reached semi-final at Acapulco before entering this tournament. Despite his good form, he made 41 unforced
errors to Simon’s 19 in the match and played poorly as he saved only one out of four breakpoints he faced.
Simon will next face Spaniard Albert Montanes or Belgian Xavier Malisse and can easily overpower them if he keeps same momentum.
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