Simon Produces 'Pure Magic' Against Djokovic In Monte-Carlo
Simon Produces 'Pure Magic' Against Djokovic In Monte-Carlo
Apr182017
Maybe Tommy Haas should reconsider this whole retirement thing.
The 39-year-old German, in the midst of his 10th comeback, needed only 69 minutes to knock out Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.
Haas, the oldest player in the draw, feasted on second serves, winning almost 80 per cent of his second-serve points and nearly 75 per cent of Paire’s. The win was Haas’ first in Monte-Carlo since 2004, when he beat Xavier Malisse. The right-hander hadn’t played at the Masters 1000 tournament since 2008.
“I think when you go out there and compete, you hope for the best, that is to try to play well and try to win,” Haas said. “Any time that happens, obviously, at this stage for me, it’s a very nice feeling, of course. I just try to build from that. Try to get stronger physically, get more used to playing matches again, points when it counts. You can do a lot of things in practice and off court, but you cannot replicate that for match play. I’m very happy to get another chance to go out there again tomorrow and keep working on my tennis game when it counts.”
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Haas improved to 2-4 on the season. He earned his first victory of the year last week in Houston by beating 19-year-old American Reilly Opelka in three sets.
Paire has been in good form. The right-hander, No. 40 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, was coming off a semi-final showing last week at the clay-court Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech. The 27 year old had won their previous FedEx ATP Head2Head match-up, after Haas had to retire because of illness down two sets to love earlier this season at the Australian Open.
“There is no better, bigger satisfaction than when you go out there, competing and winning. In this case for me, it’s a big satisfaction,” Haas said. “I’m very proud of the fact that I’m actually still out there, competing at this age. Due to setbacks and injuries I’ve had, I could have easily thrown in the towel a couple times. But I’m still out there trying to finish this game on my own terms. That’s what I’m doing. I’m proud of that.”
Haas will meet ninth seed Tomas Berdych in the second round. Their FedEx ATP Head2Head series is even at 2-all, but they haven’t played since 2012.
Gilles Simon came close, but there will be no shocking second-round upset against Novak Djokovic this year at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. The second seed battled and eventually fought off the Frenchman 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to move into the third round of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event.
The two-time champion (2013, 2015) improved to 11-1 against Simon in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The 29 year old will next meet #NextGenATP player Karen Khachanov of Russia or 13th seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain.
The second-round contest was Djokovic’s first ATP World Tour match since falling to Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open more than a month ago, on 15 March. The Serbian withdrew from the Miami Open presented by Itau because of a right elbow injury but did return to tour-level action earlier this month, dismissing Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in straight sets during Davis Cup play in Serbia.
Last year, after earning his fourth Sunshine Double in the U.S., Djokovic fell in the Monte-Carlo second round to then-World No. 55 Jiri Vesely, who celebrated his first Top 10 win and handed Djokovic only his second loss of the season.
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Adrian Mannarino recorded one of the biggest wins of his career on Tuesday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters when he beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-3 for a place in the third round.
World No. 56 Mannarino, who won two matches in qualifying and beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Monday, dictated with his potent backhand and forays to the net to improve to 2-18 lifetime against players in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. His only previous win over an elite player came against the then No. 8-ranked Stan Wawrinka in March 2015 at the Miami Open presented by Itau.
Seventh seed Tsonga got off to a fine start, sweeping to a 3-0 lead, but Mannarino recovered to 3-3 and, in hot conditions, the first set was decided by a tie-break. Tsonga took a 4/1 lead and finished the 52-minute opener with a forehand winner down the line. Mannarino responded to surge to a 5-0 lead in the second set, leaving a capacity crowd primed for a decider.
Having saved one break point in the third game of the deciding set, Mannarino broke Tsonga to 15 for a 3-1 lead. Tsonga, the 2013 and 2016 semi-finalist, continued to battle in his first match since 11 March at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Tsonga got back to 3-4 but broke a string when hitting a forehand at 15/40 to gift Mannarino a chance to serve for the match. The 28-year-old Mannarino was not to be denied his seventh match win of the 2017 ATP World Tour season, which lasted two hours and five minutes.
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Tsonga became a father for the first time with the birth of his son, Shugar, on 18 March, and celebrated his 32nd birthday at the Monte-Carlo Country Club on Monday. Mannarino, who told reporters he had trained for 10 days prior to coming to the Monte-Carlo Country Club, will now meet French compatriot and No. 11 seed Lucas Pouille or Italian Paolo Lorenzi.
Pouille gained safe passage past the lone American in the draw, Ryan Harrison, 6-2, 6-4 in 72 minutes. Harrison, this year’s Memphis titlist, was playing his first tournament since getting married to Lauren McHale on 31 March in Austin, Texas. Lorenzi was a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Marcel Granollers.
“It was a good start for the tournament, very solid,” said Pouille. “From the beginning to the end, I played well, except for one game where I got broken. Other than that, I’m very happy with this first round.”
Tommy Haas made a welcome return to the Monte-Carlo Country Club by beating Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-3 in 68 minutes. The oldest player in the draw, aged 39, is competing at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament for the first time since 2008 and notched his first win since 2004 (d. Malisse, l. to Chela). Haas now gets a shot at ninth seed Tomas Berdych in the second round.
World number two Novak Djokovic won on his return to the tour as he beat France’s Gilles Simon in his opening match of the Monte Carlo Masters.
The Serb, playing his first clay match of the year after recovering from an elbow injury, won 6-3 3-6 7-5.
The 29-year-old secured the first set before Simon saved four break points in the second to change the game’s tempo.
Simon, ranked 32nd, had the chance to serve for the match but Djokovic fought through to reach the last 16.
Djokovic, a two-time champion in Monte Carlo, received a bye in the first round and appeared to feel some strain in his right elbow in a close final set against Simon.
He was broken by Simon after an error-strewn game but a series of lengthy rallies fell Djokovic’s way, before the 32-year-old broke again.
Simon – who has not won a match since February – failed to serve out the match at 5-4, allowing Djokovic to find some rhythm and secure victory.
Elsewhere, France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was beaten by compatriot Adrian Mannarino 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-3.
World number one Andy Murray makes his return to the tour on Wednesday when he faces Luxembourger Gilles Muller, while Briton Kyle Edmund will play Spain’s Rafael Nadal in the second round.
View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following match-ups Tuesday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters & vote for the players you think will win!
Djokovic vs Simon | Paire vs Haas | Goffin vs Almagro
View Tuesday schedule and check back later for preview notes
