Simon, Simon, Simon

It was not pretty, but Gilles Simon was able to advance into the second round. He had to rally to beat American Wayne Odesnick 3-6 7-5 6-2 4-6 6-3 after 3 hours and 43 minutes of play.

The Frenchman came out flat and was broken in his first service game. Odesnik was able to hold on and take the first set. Simon won the next two sets, and it looked like the world no. 7 had gotten his act together. Some kind of way, Simon let the American back into the match, and Odesnik won the fourth set. Ultimately the Frenchman was able to hold on and win the fifth set to take the match.

Simon will play another American, Robert Kendrick in the next round. Luckily for Simon, his opponent also played a five-set match with German Daniel Brands and was on the court four minutes more than the Frenchman. Simon leads their head-to-head match-up 1-0.

Let’s hope he plays better in the next round and stops the flaky-Jake routine.

(Image: FFT)