Gilles Simon was down a set and a break to Jack Sock, but rallied to beat the American 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Friday. The Frenchman is a win away from matching his best result at this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, having finished runner-up to Roger Federer in 2014.
Simon came into the match on a high, having upset No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka in the previous round. However, Sock, who is into the doubles semi-finals in Shanghai alongside countryman John Isner, controlled the run of play in the first set by attacking relentlessly. The 24 year old pushed Simon off the court with powerful inside-out forehands, then closed out points with deft touch at the net.
Down 3-4 in the second set, the crafty Frenchman found a favourable pattern of play, hitting deep to Sock’s forehand to expose the American’s more vulnerable backhand wing. Simon broke serve twice to close out the second set and held the rest of the way to force a deciding tie-break. A stunning backhand pass allowed Sock to get within sight of the finish line at 5/4, but he netted forehands on the final two points to succumb after two hours and 40 minutes.
Simon now leads 2-1 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Sock. He will next face Andy Murray, against whom he has two victories in 16 tour-level meetings.
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