Gilles Simon comes back from brink of defeat to overcome Andy Murray in 'crazy match' at the Paris Masters
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Updated 01/11/2022 at 00:12 GMT
Andy Murray was beaten in the first round of the Paris Masters by Gilles Simon, who clawed his way back from the brink of defeat. Murray served for the match in the second set, but Simon - in his last professional tournament - dug deep to stay in the contest before Murray conceded a string of double faults which Simon took full advantage of to book his spot in the next round.
Highlights: Simon battles back to beat Murray in first round of Paris Masters
Gilles Simon beat Andy Murray 4-6 7-5 6-3 in the first round of the Paris Masters, as the former world No. 1 Murray squandered a chance to serve out the match.
Simon, who is playing in the last professional tournament of his storied career, came back phenomenally to force his final tour-level event into a third set.
As Murray looked to be strolling towards the second round, the 37-year-old rallied from a 3-5 deficit in the second set in front of a supportive home crowd to level the match.
The 35-year-old three-time Grand Slam began misfire in the crucial moments as he struggled to get over the line after a blistering start.
Simon remained composed in the third set and outlasted the Brit in the longer exchanges, as he capitalised on a handful of double faults from Murray to seal his spot in the round of 32 after two hours and 52 minutes.
Speaking after the match, Simon told Amazon Prime he "felt a lot of emotions" as he pushed towards victory.
“It was a crazy match,” Simon said. “I was behind the whole match. At 3-4 in the second set I felt a lot of emotions coming. It was difficult to play my service game at that moment and he broke me.
"He got tight at 5-3 and this time I managed to push, hold my serve and break him again. I tried to push on every game.
"It was really difficult physically, but it was difficult physically on his side. But I thought ‘come on, I have a chance to beat him.’ It is not like I have the best record against Andy.
"I really wanted to win this one and I was really happy I was able to do it.”
The win against Murray is only Simon's third in his career, and the tournament's wild card improved his ATP head-to-head against Murray to 3-16.
After securing the 503rd win of his career, he’ll take on ninth seed Taylor Fritz in the next round as he looks to end a remarkable career with a fairytale 14th ATP Tour title.
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