The former world number six has had a string of bad results this season and this continued after a dreadful performance against Italian Marco Cecchinato in Umag. So where does this result leave the Frenchman and where did it go wrong for Simon?
The two time grand slam Quarter-Finalist has had a poor season with only winning 11 of his 27 matches of 2017, with his best results of the season coming in Marseille and Lyon where he reached the Quarter-Finals. It seems like that the Frenchman has lost his mental fortitude to reach the latter stages of a tournament or even win a title.
In fact his last ATP World Tour title was in Marseille in 2015 where he defeated Gael Monfils in the final. The worrying sign for Simon fans is that he seems to be doing worse on a clay court than a grass court. This is disappointing as the Frenchman likes long rallies and dictating play through these bruising rallies. As a result he used to have a better chance against the bigger players on clay however this is not the case anymore.
It seems to be the opposite for Simon as yesterday’s loss against Cecchinato proved. His 6-1 3-6 6-1 defeat to the Italian saw his first serve percentage drop and also saw him lose his mentality. He also lacked depth and conviction in his shots which could be a major reason why he has only won 11 matches on tour all season. However it looks like we will have to wait until the Asia tour to see if Simon has completely lost it as this is where he has had his best results in the past few years.
Hopefully Simon’s game can get more aggressive over the next few months otherwise the Frenchman’s best years are behind him and will only be known as a floater in the draw.
