From our special correspondent in Bercy,
It’s the last time we get screwed, Gillou. The blow of the old carne which pulls everywhere, the Rossinante which no longer puts one hamstring in front of the other and which only thinks of retirement, ENDED. So, after thrashing Murray on Monday, Mr. Simon still had the energy to knock out of the Masters race none less than Taylor Fritz? The American presents well, however, strong in his appalling appetite for conformity which makes tennis of the moment: an improbable ground cover for a guy of his size and mandals as soon as the ball arrives in forehand.
Me it’s the mess, Gillou confuses it
But now, Môsieur Simon does not want to retire. So he plays with the nerves of the organizer, as in his best days: three hours of play in the middle of the afternoon, and too bad if that screws up the program. The joke is signed Lucas Pouille, who came as an informed spectator, after missing the boat on Monday against Murray: “I sent him a message after the match to tell him ‘damn you’re a genius, I’m going to be able to see your last’ ‘. He replied that with the crazy energy we gave him, he was going to fight. It’s a game like his career. He doesn’t give up from start to finish, with a different intelligence on the pitch, there isn’t a guy like him. I wouldn’t have put a penny on his victory… there’s no finer ending than the one he’s writing”.
At the start of the third set, we can even admit that the audience cultivated a certain resignation, after two hours of home demonstration, based on impossible runs, flaky balls in the middle of a forest of backhands flush with the net, small blows Right of attack skilfully distilled to the dropper, in short, the whole panoply of Didier confuses him for a very meager loot. One set everywhere only, against a fresher and stronger opponent on paper.
At the start of the 3rd, you feel alone, laughs the applicant. Then you win a point, another, you hold a tight game, you survive and at 4-4 you see the other guy start to stretch his thigh ”Ah you too”. Well, I need three months of recuperation, but the public helps me a lot, I have to play as if there was no tomorrow”.
There is one, however, facing the terror of the moment, the Canadian Auger-Aliassime, winner of the last three tournaments where he has lined up. The risk is great, obviously, of the match too many, a bit like at Roland last spring, where the third round against Cilic had turned into summary execution. But we swore not to be fooled by the bugger again.
“He manages to find a form of relaxation”
Neither is Pouille: “It’s fantastic to see the level he manages to produce. He is clear with his decision to finish, he manages to take advantage of the moment by finding a kind of relaxation, a bit like Jo at Roland, who had not played like that for years. It allows us to realize how exceptional the four with Gaël and Richard were, monsters that we were lucky to have, we have said too little about it all these years”.
Word of the one who was supposed to succeed them before being weighed down by a series of almost definitive injuries. Next tank ride Thursday afternoon at snack time. Be there anyway. On a misunderstanding, it could be the last.