Gilles Simon
Seventh seed Gilles Simon (Creative Commons 2.0 licence)
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Thursday, 18, Jun 2009 12:04
Date of birth: 27/12/1984 (Age: 24).
Nationality: French
Height: 5ft 11in
Weight: 152lbs
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Turned professional: 2002
Current ATP singles ranking: 7
Best Wimbledon performance: Third round - 2008
Grass court pedigree
Gilles Simon is generally considered to be a defensive baseliner, so it might be thought that grass isn't his strongest surface. He crashed out of the 2009 Aegon Championships at Queen's Club in a third-round loss to Mikhail Youzhny, despite being the tournament's third seed.
However, Wimbledon is now believed to be the slowest grass court on tour and has again and again seen baseliners performing well on the surface. Moreover, though Simon lost to fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the third round of Wimbledon in 2008, he has since succeeded Gasquet as France's number one player.
Wimbledon seeding: 7th
Chances of SW19 success?
In 2008 Simon won three titles; Casablanca, Indianapolis, and the BCR Open in Romania. His performance at the US Open left something to be desired, losing in the third round to Juan Martin del Potro in an epic five-set match that lasted three hours and 47 minutes.
However, the year also saw him defeat the current world number one Roger Federer in the second round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto; he was dispatched in the semi-finals by Nicolas Kiefer. Simon defeated world number three Novak Djokovic in the second round of Marseille and again in the semi-finals in Rotterdam a week later.
Later in the year, Simon entered the 2008 Madrid Masters, defeating world number 11 and Queen's finalist James Blake, further dispatching the recently crowned world number one Rafael Nadal in a marathon semi-final, eventually losing to Andy Murray in a straight sets final. Simon and Nadal's next encounter, the 2009 Australian Open, saw Nadal win 6-2, 7-5, 7-5.
All the signs are there for a respectable Wimbledon performance from Simon.
Prediction: Semi-finalist
It would be wrong to dismiss one of only four players to beat Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, after they had been crowned the world's top three players.
Simon's performance in the last two years has seen him climb from an ATP ranking of number 29 right up to number seven, following a scattering of impressive wins.
Although a grand slam win - or even a grand slam final appearance - has so far escaped him, Simon's ability to defeat top players would make a semi-final appearance very likely.
Patrick Steen