Gilles Simon outshines Victor Hanescu to reach round three – BNP Paribas Masters 2012
Local contender, Gilles Simon, stomped over the Romanian lucky loser, Victor Hanescu, in straight sets at the BNP Paribas Masters 2012 on Wednesday. He juggled up a 7-5, 6-3 victory against the 31-year-old to power into the third round at this indoor hard court event taking place in Paris Bercy, France.
The Swiss resident showed brilliant skills to overpower Hanescu, who replaced top seeded Roger Federer he withdrew from the tournament with fatigue, in their fourth encounter. After earning the fame in almost one and a half hour, Simon extended lead in the FedEx ATP (Association) Head 2 Head Series against the world number 61 and progressed into the round of 16 at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy.
Simon made a powerful entry at this ATP Masters 1000 event taking place from 27th October to 4th November. He drew the first blood in the fourth game and jumped to a 4-1 lead. Regardless of losing his edge in the ninth game, the French stayed calm and held his remaining serves. He got the breakthrough in the last game and clicked the opener with a 7-5 success.
Ranked 20th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Simon perfected his game in the proceeding set. He swiped his entire serves without encountering any breakpoint. The French got the breakthrough after cashing the lone break chance in the eighth game and clinched the set with a 6-3 score line.
The 27-year-old is bidding for his second year-to-date title. He hammered eight aces and despite producing a lower first serve share of 52 per cent as compared to his rival’s 61 per cent, Simon conquered 23 out of 30 points on it.
Simon will face off the 15th seed, Kei Nishikori from Japan. The Asian number one overpowered the local wild card entrant, Benoit Paire, in straight sets to set up this meeting.
The fourth seed, David Ferrer, will join Simon in the proceeding round. He crushed his compatriot, Marcel Granollers, with a breadstick in one hour and 17 minutes. Ferrer was broken once but cashed five out of six break chances to formulate a 6-1, 6-3 success.
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