Gilles Simon halts the comeback run of Brian Baker in the second round – French Open 2012
Gilles Simon, seeded 11th at the event, had to bring out his best to overcome the challenge of USA’ comeback hero, Brian Baker, in five sets 6-4, 6-1, 6-7(4), 1-6, 6-0 in the round of 64 at the French Open in Paris on
Wednesday.
Simon hit a blow to the American in the third game to grab a 2-1 lead but Baker broke back immediately to equalise the score at 2-2. The Frenchman struck again in the ninth and this time Baker failed to come on level terms, losing
it 4-6.
With the winning momentum on his side, Simon played almost flawlessly in the second set, as he allowed the American to win only one game till the end, closing it 6-1.
After coming under a deficit of two sets, Baker raised the level of his game in the third, snatching a break in the third game and consolidating on it to move ahead 3-1. Serving for the set at 5-4, the American could not finish
it off and levelled the score at 5-5. Both players held their following serve to square off the score at 6-6 and take it to a tie-breaker. Baker built a 3-0 lead and this time he did not let it away, triumphing 7-6(4).
The American made the best possible start in the fourth set, as he won opening three games to attain a 3-0 lead. Baker made another strike in the sixth and served it out at 5-1.
As the scores got tied at two sets apiece, it all came to the decider. Simon made drastic improvement in his game, starting to play aggressively at almost every point. The Frenchman captured six on the trot and won it 6-0.
Commenting on the match afterwards, Simon said, "I feel good, because I won, I guess. But we didn't play more than three hours, so still okay (smiling), even if it's five sets. It was a very difficult match. I was feeling good
on the court, two sets to love, playing very nice tennis, and then he played also some amazing shots and he played really good the third and fourth sets. It was difficult at the beginning of the fifth... he started to miss a few shots, and finally I broke
him the first game, and it was really, really important."
The French star will meet Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka, seeded 18th in the draw, in the third round.
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