Matthew Ebden stuns Gilles Simon to reach the quarters – Shanghai Rolex Masters 2011
Local crowd at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in Shanghai, China, was in for another shocking result, as the world number 12, Gilles Simon of France, fell out of the third round clash at the hands of the 124th ranked, Matthew Ebden of Australia
on Thursday afternoon.
The enthralling three-setter witnessed a stiff contest between the two quality tennis players. The Australian qualifier toiled hard for two hours and eight minutes of play to finally conclude the nail-biting finish at 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(8). 23-year-old Ebden
exhibited his sheer brilliance to dispose of 12th ranked Simon from the competition and earned a place in his first quarter-final of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters Series event.
The eighth seeded Frenchman was off to a sloppy start, dropping the opener very early in the game but regrouped in the middle stages of the contest to make his way back in business. Simon and Ebden went took and nail in the final set, throwing the best they
had at each other to remain alive in the competition. The Aussie squandered away four match points in the final set before he finally converted his fifth one in the tie breaker to register an emphatic victory in the end.
I guess the situation, to play for a quarter-final spot in a Masters tournament, is huge," said Ebden. "I was definitely a bit nervous out there closing out the match. But I think he was, too. [The] third set tie-break, it was very exciting, [and an] incredible
feeling when I eventually won.” When asked about his five match points, Ebden added, “I think two of them I had good plays and he hit two passing shot winners. One of them he hit an ace. One of them I missed a volley I should have made.”
Both contestants registered three out of nine break points in the matchup but it was just the matter of time that Simon frittered away some vital opportunities in the matchup to finish on the losing side in the end.
Ebden needs to get through the belligerent world number four, Andy Murray of Great Britain, to reach the semi-final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Friday. The in-form Murray came to Shanghai after clinching a memorable title victory over the world number
two Rafael Nadal at the Japan Open and outplayed the world number 19, Stanislas Wawrinka, in the third round to book a date with Ebden in the quarter-finals.
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