Gilles Simon does his best Gigli impression ever. For you non-movie buffs, Gigli is one of the worst movies ever. It has literally won awards for this honor, but back to tennis.
Gilles Simon lost to Daniel Brands, a German qualifier, today in Hamburg, the former Master Series event.
This was a pretty big defeat for Gilles. Please note that Gilles Simon is a 25 year-old accomplished French tennis player. He has a lot of game. He is the 7th ranked player on Earth. Gilles has won more money in a single tournament than his opponent has in his entire career including doubles and singles. And, Simon has never lost to the best player in the World and maybe history. Simon is 2-0 against Roger Federer, but couldn't beat a guy who consistently plays guys ranked in the 200s. Tennis players that have to play in the qualifies do not get automatic bids to major or main tournaments and have to play in the week before the major tournament to just get the opportunity to play in the main tournament, and once in the tournament they draw top players. This is very similar to a play in game in NCAA hoops. For a little more perspective, qualifier spectator tickets are like $3. Simon lost to this qualifier.
France has had ups and downs of late with the unexpected death of Mathieu Montcourt and then the IMMENSELY talented Richard Gasquet getting off with a bogus cocaine consumption story, and finally Simon inexplicably losing to a rando.
Sporty nation this is my Minority Report.
Gilles is 24. Brands is in 100s, not 200s. He is a WC (stands for wildcard in case you don't know), not a qualifier (means he didn't need to play the week before just to get into main draw). Maybe Gilles is aspiring to be like James Blake, who lost 1st round in back to back Slams.
ReplyDeleteBrands does not get into major/main tournaments automatically like the top players do so he has to play in the qualies. He has never in his life gotten into a grandslam without playing in the qualies. He perpetually plays in the qualies. Once you get a ranking high enough, you no longer have to play in the minor leagues or qualies and automatically get a spot in major tournies and make a lot of money instantly rather than like 5K for winning a tournament.
ReplyDeleteBrands plays on the Challenger Tour which is the minor leagues or second tour of the Atp. Brands consistently plays players that are in the 200s because he plays in very minor tournaments. He never plays in Master Series which often times have the deepest most taleneted fields. And, he does not typically play players that are #7 in the world which is what Simon is.
In fact, playing Challengers gets you into main tourneys or qualies.
His best James Blake impression eh? I have string feelings about James Blake and his stubborn play, but they are different. Blake's ROland Garros lost was expected, his Wimby lost was very very suprising. His lost to Croatia was expected as well. So, it is not quite the same.
Tennis afficionado, what is your take on Simon's game?
As a diehard tennis fan, I quite know what a qualifier is, but thanks for explaining anyway. It's just a bit misleading that you said Brands plays with guys in 200s, as if that's the only guys that he plays with. But he ranks in 120, which means, he does play with guys from low 50s all the way to 200s. Robin Soderling, the finalist of Roland Garros 2009, played a challenger event earlier this year. It's not abnormal that even higher ranked players plays challenger events. Moreover, Brands is a wildcard in this particular tourney, not a qualifier, so he didn't have to play 2-3 qualifying matches before getting into the Hamburg main draw. He's German, btw, with a bit of a homecourt advantage.
ReplyDeleteIt's only fair to compare Simon's and Blake's performance while they were the top players. Blake was in top 10 most of last year, he lost to Nishikori when Nishi was ranked 244, and lost to Robby Ginepri when Robby was ranked 138, both in small events. As bad as Simon has been this year, he managed to get to R3 in RG and R4 in Wimby, can't say the same for Blake last year when he was ranked 8 in both RG and Wimby. Expected or not, Blake lost in R128 in both slams this year.
Simon's clay record this year has been horrendous, I'm more surprised that he insisted on going back to clay after Wimby, instead of starting the US hard court season early like he did last year. His game has been very reliable when he plays with patience and wait for opportunity to strike. He is not a ballbasher and will never be one because of his build, his strength is on playing tactically. This year, he tries to be more aggressive and often strikes too early and lost his groove. He needs to get back to what he does best and get the patience back. He managed to have good results last year with flaws in his game, but he needs to improve his serve, which I think should be his priority at the moment.