At 37, Gilles Simon is closer to the end of his career than to the beginning. This Tuesday on the courts of the Australian Open, he experienced one of his worst disappointments. He was beaten by 17-year-old Australian Edward Winter (6-3, 1-6, 6-3) in 2:15, in the first round of qualifying for the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. A meeting during which the French had 15 break points. He converted only 4. Simon had not participated in a qualifying tournament since 2006. It was already at the time in Melbourne, where he had beaten the Italian Paolo Lorenzi in the decisive third round.
Currently 122nd in the world, the former number 6 (early 2009) has already seen his career stop in a tournament that he nevertheless likes. In 2009, he reached the quarter-finals against the then world number 1 Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard had defeated the French 6-2, 7-5, 7-5. Since then, he has never reached such a level in a Grand Slam with the exception of the 2015 season at Wimbledon where he was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Roger Federer (6-3, 7-5, 6-2) .
A year ago he put his career on hiatus
This new disillusion, at the start of 2022, comes barely a year after the announcement of “his break”. In fact, in February 2021, he declared on his twitter account: “My heart is no longer there to travel and play in these conditions, I am unfortunately obliged to take a break in order to preserve myself mentally. Hoping that morale returns as quickly as possible. “
After putting aside the courts and rackets for a few months, the bad news continues to follow and does not cheer him up, on the contrary. In 2021, he ended the year with a sad record of 5 wins for 17 losses and a medical forfeit at the US Open because he was in contact. These disillusions are added to this elimination in the first qualifying round. They might suggest that she take an almost permanent break.
