Gilles Simon stuns Marin Cilic, to play Kevin Anderson in Tata Open tennis final

Soon after clinching his place in the Tata Open Maharashtra semifinals, Marin Cilic had described his next opponent, Gilles Simon, as a dangerous opponent with a unique style of play. “He has a good record against me. We have had some close matches and I will have to be at my best against him,” Cilic said. The words were prophetic!

Cilic, the 6’6” World No 6, looked at his best in the first set, served hard, hit some great shots and blasted off the blocks to take a 5-0 lead and won the set 6-1.

With Cilic taking the first set easily, the crowd, looking for a better contest, got behind Simon, now the underdog in the match.

The 89th-ranked Frenchman fed on the crowd support, got his rhythm and the range of his shots back to win the next two sets, causing the biggest upset of the tournament, depriving the Tata Open Maharashtra of its top seed.

A fired-up Simon won the nearly two-hour long slugfest 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 to clinch his place in the final in his maiden visit to India. With this stirring comeback, the 33-year-old from France has enhanced his reputation and set himself as a favourite for the title.

In the final, Simon will meet second seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa. The 31-year-old world No 14, who reached the US Open final in 2017, quelled a strong challenge from France’s Benoit Paire, the fourth seed, winning the second semifinal 6-7(6), 7-6(2), 6-1.

GREAT START BY CILIC

Cilic came out with all guns blazing as he breezed his way to 5-0 lead in the first set, breaking Simon in the second and fourth games. He wrapped up the set in just 27 minutes thanks to some powerful serving and great shots, especially the forehand. Simon took time to settle, found his range and held his serve in the sixth game.

The second set mirrored the first in terms of score as Simon surged to 4-0 lead, breaking Cilic’s service in second and fourth games. Simon, who got into a good rhythm by the start of second set, started keeping the ball in play for longer rallies while errors started creeping into Cilic’s game.

The gangling Croatian made a number of unforced errors and though he got a break back, that was not enough. Simon wrapped up the set 6-3. The Frenchman was returning superbly, and made couple of great passing shots when Cilic came to the net and kept his rival under pressure throughout the set.

In the decider, Simon broke Cilic in the first game, capitalising on couple of unforced errors by the Croatian.

Cilic had a great chance of levelling scores by getting the break back as he earned two break points in the second game. But Simon showed great resolve and won the longest game of match that went to deuce four times.

That seems to have taken a lot from Cilic. Simon broke him again in the eighth game and went on to serve out the match.

Simon then set himself for a grand double as he reached the men’s doubles semifinal in the company of compatriot Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Simon and Herbert defeated the all-Indian pair of Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan 6-4, 7-6(2).

RESULTS (all semifinals)

Gilles Simon (FRA) bt Marin Cilic 1-6, 6-3, 6-2

Kevin Anderson (RSA) bt Benoit Paire (RSA) 6-7(6), 7-6(2), 6-1

Doubles

Robin Hasse/Matwe Middelkoop (NED) beat Roman Jebavy / Jiri Vesely (CZE) 6-2, 6-4.