On the latest episode of the Court N°1 podcast on RMC, Gilles Simon revealed that he had a pretty simple tactic against Roger Federer. Simon said: “Tactically it was easier for me to play against the Big 3, because they are such strong players that they don’t have many weak points.
They do everything more or less perfectly. I didn’t use any brilliant tactics when I faced Roger Federer. I played everything possible on his backhand, it was the only thing I could do. His serve was extremely precise, with his right he left you two meters from the ball and at the net he felt comfortable with him.
If there was an area of the court where he could breathe a little, it was undoubtedly the backhand diagonal. I have always fought more against the players who offered me more options, because there I had to choose. He was often between two fires and did not always handle the situation in the best way”
Gilles, who reached the round of 16 at Paris-Bercy in what was the last tournament of his career. Roger Federer said goodbye to tennis played this year, being already aware that he cannot continue competing at the highest level.
The genius did everything possible to be able to treat himself to one last round of the carousel in 2023, but the conditions of his right knee forced him to say enough is enough. The three operations that the Swiss has undergone in the last two and a half years have been useless.
The 41-year-old from Basel had attempted a timid comeback in 2021, playing only 13 official matches and stopping again after Wimbledon. The 20-time Grand Slam champion announced the decision to retire via a letter posted on Instagram and played his last match alongside Rafael Nadal in the Laver Cup.
Federer had a responsibility to represent the sport
Roger Federer had a fun and illuminating chat on the late-night talk show The Daily Show with Trevor Noah on Wednesday. “When I was growing up, I had Michael Schumacher that I would look up to, who was at the top for so long.
Tiger Woods, same thing. And I always thought it’s impossible to do that, to stay at the top for so long and have that drive,” he stated. “Now people ask me, how did you do it? I’m like that’s normal. You just go out there, you do it again and you try to win again. And it’s fun, so you keep doing it. Everybody else would like to be in your shoes, right?” he remarked.
