Gilles Simon edges past Janko Tipsarevic into third round – Western & Southern Open 2011
World number 12, Gilles Simon of France, continues with his belligerent form to dispose of the 20th ranked Serb competitor, Janko Tipsarevic, in the second round of Western and Southern Financial Group Masters, being
played on the outdoor hard courts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, United States, on Wednesday.
The competition was played as a part of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters Series, with the 10th seeded Frenchman registering his 31st victory of the running year. Simon settled the final
scores at 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-3, after an electrifying contest with the Serb opponent to make it to the round of 16 of Cincinnati Masters. Tipsarevic hung in the game for two hours and fifty seven minutes before suffering defeat in the third set of the match to
end his voyage at the last stop before the US Open.
Gilles is currently in an excellent form and has already won two ATP World Tour championship titles this season so far. He was running a two-match winning streak against Tipsarevic prior to Wednesday’s matchup. The last time these
two men face each other in singles encounter at Miami Masters this year, when Simon outplayed the Serb 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2, to make it in to the quarter-finals of the tournament. Simon’s 31st victory of the running ATP season extended his all-time
head-to-head lead against Tipsarevic by 3-0 and earned him a place in the round of 16 of Cincinnati Masters.
Intense tennis was witnessed right from the beginning of the match, with both men labouring hard to get the early advantage. After an exchange of serve breaks from both sides, the opener went into a tie breaker round at 6-6. Simon
utterly failed to perform under pressure and submitted the opening set to his opponent at 6-7(3).
The Frenchman took less time to turn the tide on Tipsarevic in the very next set and stung three straight serve breaks to close out the set at 6-2, levelling the match with one set a piece. The decisive set also went to the wire
but Tipsarevic failed to crack in any break point this time round and suffered two cracking serve breaks from Simon to lose the matchup at 3-6.
Simon will take on the world number six, David Ferrer of Spain, in the third round for a place in the quarter-finals of Cincinnati Masters. Ferrer disposed of Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in the second set to reach the round of
16.
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