Aggressive Gilles Simon ?

tacou

tacou

G.O.A.T.
Watching the ESPN broadcast of Simon vs Haas and BG said something interesting, that Simon used to make a lot of errors trying to play big when he was young. Then he started playing counter puncher tennis and that's when he started to have success.

I find this interesting because while I love Simon, he is the closest thing to an elite level pusher that exists on tour. The idea that he found this game in his early 20s opposed to playing that way his whole life is curious to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrOVAzSTQY4

This is the oldest video of Gilles I could find, though I didn't search very hard. Bad quality. 2006.

Anyone have any insight into this? Any older videos, or general comments on Simon's game? While he loves to run he hits flat and clearly can create a lot of racket speed, just chooses not to.
 
Elite

Elite

Semi-Pro
I have no content of his earlier years, no, but if he wants to get a few impressive wins and some more titles, he needs to be much more aggressive, or, at least, more versatile and unpredictable (i.e., shorten the points rather than engage in a long rally).

I enjoyed his net approaches today against Haas. This type of variety is something he needs more of.
 
S

Say Chi Sin Lo

G.O.A.T.
Elite said:
That is precisely what I am saying. Or God wanted to make tennis boring. :neutral:
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I remember in Indian Wells, he was playing Paire. And the match was so boring, the umpire asked for a Coke during one of the change-overs. It was in the earlier rounds where they had televised change-overs.
 
Elite

Elite

Semi-Pro
Say Chi Sin Lo said:
I remember in Indian Wells, he was playing Paire. And the match was so boring, the umpire asked for a Coke during one of the change-overs. It was in the earlier rounds where they had televised change-overs.
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I tried watching his match against Monfils this year at the AO and it was mindless, senseless ball bashing. It's like playing against a damn brick wall at the local playground.
 
S

Say Chi Sin Lo

G.O.A.T.
Elite said:
I tried watching his match against Monfils this year at the AO and it was mindless, senseless ball bashing. It's like playing against a damn brick wall at the local playground.
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At least ball bashing would sound good on TV, the dude was massaging the ball back and forth. It looked like he was hitting feeder balls.

I tried watching that match too. That wasn't happening. The next thing I know, I heard the wonderful sounds of birds chirping in the morning.
 
Elite

Elite

Semi-Pro
At times he was bashing, others, playing soft. It was an ugly match. The crowd were restless and were tired of it. The 70+ rally was ugly trite, too.

The only time I enjoyed watching Simon play was when he unexpectedly took Federer to five sets at the AO some years back. He played with a tad more aggression and variety in that match and it paid off.
 
S

Say Chi Sin Lo

G.O.A.T.
Elite said:
At times he was bashing, others, playing soft. It was an ugly match. The crowd were restless and were tired of it. The 70+ rally was ugly trite, too.

The only time I enjoyed watching Simon play was when he unexpectedly took Federer to five sets at the AO some years back. He played with a tad more aggression and variety in that match and it paid off.
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He took Federer to 5 sets?! I didn't even know they played, and I would have imagine Federer licking his chops at his pusher balls. I mean, every shot off of Simon's racquet is a setup for a winner.

The dude spins his 1st serve in for crying out loud...
 
Elite

Elite

Semi-Pro
Say Chi Sin Lo said:
He took Federer to 5 sets?! I didn't even know they played, and I would have imagine Federer licking his chops at his pusher balls. I mean, every shot off of Simon's racquet is a setup for a winner.

The dude spins his 1st serve in for crying out loud...
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLwMx9WNc0o

Yes he did. Surprised you didn't know that. It was at R2 of the AO in 2011. Federer won the first two sets with ease, and, at the time, I was thinking to myself "..Yawn. Another easy win for *******". Then, however, Simon upped the ante, Federer brought things down, and Mr. Boring took it to five sets.
 
S

Say Chi Sin Lo

G.O.A.T.
Elite said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLwMx9WNc0o

Yes he did. Surprised you didn't know that. It was at R2 of the AO in 2011. Federer won the first two sets with ease, and, at the time, I was thinking to myself "..Yawn. Another easy win for *******". Then, however, Simon upped the ante, Federer brought things down, and Mr. Boring took it to five sets.
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Yeah I don't care if Federer is in that clip, Simon is still in there, I'm not watching that.
 
M

merwy

G.O.A.T.
Say Chi Sin Lo said:
He took Federer to 5 sets?! I didn't even know they played, and I would have imagine Federer licking his chops at his pusher balls. I mean, every shot off of Simon's racquet is a setup for a winner.

The dude spins his 1st serve in for crying out loud...
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To the contrary, their H2H is 2-2. And as Elite just pointed out, one of Fed's wins was very hard fought. I don't know why Simon troubles Federer, maybe he just bores him to sleep or something.
 
S

Say Chi Sin Lo

G.O.A.T.
merwy said:
To the contrary, their H2H is 2-2. And as Elite just pointed out, one of Fed's wins was very hard fought. I don't know why Simon troubles Federer, maybe he just bores him to sleep or something.
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Maybe Federer has a little 4.0-5.0 in him: has all the strokes in the world, but can't play a pusher. Haha.
 
Relinquis

Relinquis

Hall of Fame
the pain is too hard... i don't know if i can talk about it... the horror, the horror... it hasn't been long enough, but i'll try...

Simon Vs. Paire - Indian Wells... I can't bring myself to post highlights, but you know it's bad when the commentators start making fun of the tennis being played.

Simon can play aggressively, he chooses not to. The restraint must be suffocating.
 
Elite

Elite

Semi-Pro
Relinquis said:
the pain is too hard... i don't know if i can talk about it... the horror, the horror... it hasn't been long enough, but i'll try...

Simon Vs. Paire - Indian Wells... I can't bring myself to post highlights, but you know it's bad when the commentators start making fun of the tennis being played.

Simon can play aggressively, he chooses not to. The restraint must be suffocating.
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The thing is, Simon's ugly game can beat 80% of players on tour. He doesn't need to be aggressive to always win. And he plays the 80% more than the 20%, so he probably feels utterly awkward attempting to change things up.
 
tacou

tacou

G.O.A.T.
Yes we all know Simon vs Paire was a horror show and the Simon/Monfils matches from AO 09 and 13 are the first ever televised practice sessions.. but seriously, this is brilliant tennis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be6eMF7pkEo


What I find interesting is we always ask players like Monfils to be more aggressive. Rarely do we talk about Tsonga and say "he needs a little more pusher in him."

If BG is correct, Simon used to be a ball basher who realized it wasn't working, became a human wall and reached #6 in the world.
 
D

dominikk1985

Legend
Simon can hit his FH quite big sometimes but he doesn't do that very often.

his strategy is to give the Opponent no pace so that he has to create the pace by himself and make Errors. not very attractive but probably effective since Simon is not the biggest guy out there.
 
tacou

tacou

G.O.A.T.
dominikk1985 said:
Simon can hit his FH quite big sometimes but he doesn't do that very often.

his strategy is to give the Opponent no pace so that he has to create the pace by himself and make Errors. not very attractive but probably effective since Simon is not the biggest guy out there.
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Yes this is true. Even when he is grinding though, Simon hits the ball flat. As you could see last night, he hits bigger and/or with more spin the wider out he is.

I just think he is a peculiar player, especially if Gilbert's assertion that he used to go for more winners and made a lot of errors.

I doubt even BG knew about Simon when he was 15-18, so this style of play had to be semi-recently, making the transition even more curious.
 
tacou

tacou

G.O.A.T.
Say Chi Sin Lo said:
Oh I agreed, we're just saying from a spectator point of view, wanting to be entertained, Gilles Simon possess zero value.
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More often than not this is true, but when he plays against big hitters who drag him wide or force him to make passing shots, he comes up with some brilliant stuff. Wonder how he would have played on carpet..
 
B

Bryan Swartz

Hall of Fame
Depends on what the spectator is looking for. I enjoy Simon's style almost as much as I enjoy Federer's -- there's more to tennis than hitting winners.
 
S

Say Chi Sin Lo

G.O.A.T.
Bryan Swartz said:
Depends on what the spectator is looking for. I enjoy Simon's style almost as much as I enjoy Federer's -- there's more to tennis than hitting winners.
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Agreed, I have no problem sitting through a defensive grind game for the NBA. But with tennis, I want to see hurting bombs! :twisted:
 
S

Sid_Vicious

G.O.A.T.
Say Chi Sin Lo said:
I didn't even know it was 18minutes long. I may have to report you to be banned had I clicked the link.
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Your loss. Simon was outhitting Federer frequently towards the end of that match. He crushed so many 90-100 mph forehand and backhand winners right in Federer's face.

It was pretty incredible actually; baffled me as to why Simon does not hit bigger more often. He can get easy pace on his shots.
 
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