“Thank you Gilou,” Auger-Aliassime wrote on camera as he left the court to make way for a ceremony organized by the French Federation in honor of Simon.
The Frenchman announced in May that he would put away his racket at the end of the season, his 21st on the professional circuit, and he received an invitation to enter the main draw at Bercy. He had managed to postpone the deadline twice by winning in the first round against the former world No.1 Andy Murray and in the second against the 11th in the world Taylor Fritz.
But he had fought 2h50 against the Briton and 3h06 against the American so well that he no longer had the physique to resist Auger-Aliassime, one of the most fit young people (22 years old) at the moment since he aims at Bercy for a fourth title in four weeks after winning in Florence, Antwerp and Basel.
The public’s fervor was quickly extinguished when Simon found himself completely overwhelmed from the start of the game: 3-0 then 5-1.
Fears of a fiasco were further heightened when the Frenchman clutched his left thigh in pain in the final game of the first set.
And the more the match progressed, the more Simon staggered on his thighs. But as he accustomed his opponents throughout his career, he refused to lay down his arms and fought until the end.
– New Musketeer –
However, he could not prevent FAA from reaching the quarter-finals where he will try to win a 15th successive victory, against Frances Tiafoe (21st) who got rid of the Australian Alex de Minaur (25th) 6-3 , 7-6 (7/5).
“I have enormous respect for Gilles and for everything he has done for French tennis and for the tennis community in general,” said the Canadian.
“I knew it would be a difficult game, for sure it’s a very special moment, it’s a huge moment to retire (from the circuit),” he added.
Simon, born in Nice on December 27, 1984, started on the professional circuit in 2002.
He reached the 6th rank in the world on January 5, 2009 and retires on a strong list of 14 ATP titles. The first in Marseille in 2007, the last in Metz in 2018.
He is the fourth most successful Habs in the Open era (since 1968), behind Yannick Noah (23), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (18) and Richard Gasquet (15).
In terms of victories, he has 504 and only Gasquet (588) and Gaël Monfils (525) have done better. In the Masters 1000 category, he won 124 games and only Gasquet (140) is ahead.
During his career, Simon has notably beaten Roger Federer (twice), Rafael Nadal (1), Novak Djokovic (1) and Andy Murray (3).
He notched his best Grand Slam result at the 2009 Australian Open and 2015 Wimbledon by advancing to the quarter-finals.
With Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who retired from Roland-Garros this year, Richard Gasquet and Gaël Monfils, he constitutes the “new Musketeers”. He won with the first two in particular, the Davis Cup in 2017.
