Gilles Simon upsets Janko Tipsarevic to reach the quarter-finals – Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 2012
French tennis icon, Gilles Simon, trashed the eighth ranked Serb, Janko Tipsarevic, to qualify for the quarter-final stage of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. On Thursday, the ninth seed French took hold of the match in the start
with a bagel; however, lost the second set but bagged the third set with ease to register 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 triumph.
It was the fourth head-to-head victory for the 27-year-old French who has never lost to his Serb age fellow. In a post-match interview the 15th ranked French said, “I believe it was more physical than tactical. I liked
the conditions. They were heavy and slow. I hadn't anticipated that he would play the way he did, playing long rallies, being patient. In fact, it suited me. I like playing like that."
The opening set was a complete embarrassment for the Serb who failed to win a single game. Tipsarevic bagged 20 points compared to 33 of his opponent and couldn’t convert any of the seven allotted opportunities to break serve.
On the other hand, the local pocketed three out of three breakpoints that led to a cracking first set victory.
Despite facing such a miserable loss in the opening set, the Serb stayed focused and took an early lead in the second set to take a lead of 3-1. He kept the lead intact until the end; classic control on his serves gave no opportunity
for Simon to break serve and stage was set for an epic third set battle.
The ninth seed French was the first to break serve in the final set. He took a resounding lead of 4-1 and kept on exerting pressure on his opponent that allotted him another breakpoint. Simon served for the match in the seventh
game and completed a majestic upset in front of the home crowd. He was ecstatic to have qualified for the fourth quarter-final of the tournaments this year.
Monte-Carlo will feature an all-French quarter-final between the fourth seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and the ninth seed, Gilles Simon. Talking about that match, Simon said, “I know his game can be extremely bothersome on clay, like
on any other surface, for that matter. I will have to hang in there, show him I'm always there, and that he can't have a letdown at any moment because then I will be back."
It will be a classic clash for the spot in the last four and huge crowd is expected to turnout at the arena.
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