Simple for Simon in Dubai
Simple for Simon in Dubai 
From Richard Eaton in Dubai, UAE
Former Australian Captain February 28, 2007
GILLES Simon, on a career-high world ranking of No.42 since winning his first ATP title this month, achieved a morale-boosting revenge win to reach the second round of the Dubai Open.
The 22 year old had been forced to retire while a set and 3-1 down against Philipp Kohlschreiber at last week’s indoor tournament in Rotterdam, but he raised his standard well to overcame the German 6-4 6-4.
Simon had been struggling with pain in his right leg, and still had doubts about his fitness, but the Gulf sunshine and an outdoor venue seemed to help his recovery.
“I had only played for half an hour on Sunday and then my doubles yesterday (Monday),'’ said a smiling Simon.
“I couldn’t run that much but I decided that now it would be okay.
“And it was. I can’t win if I can’t run, so it must be okay,'’ added the fleet-footed counter-hitter whose modest size compared with the tall men on the circuit has gained him the nickname ‘poussin’ (little chicken).
Nevertheless, he began the match uncertainly against an opponent capable of moments of considerable brilliance, and was soon 4-1 down.
“He played great up to then - he played like last week,'’ said Simon. “It was a very high standard and then he started to miss.
“At 4-2 on his serve I returned four shots in the middle of the court and he gave me the four points.
“I think these conditions suited me better (than in Rotterdam, where it was still). It’s windy. He can play some unbelievable shots sometimes, but here in the sun and the wind he missed occasionally.
“Winning Marseille was great for me. I didn’t have a lot of confidence going into the tournament because I had lost so many first round matches, but here I had a great first round.
“After that I played with no pressure, and just played my game. Now I think I am playing my best tennis, though I hope I can get better.'’
A Frenchman is now certain to reach the quarter-finals because Simon next plays Fabrice Santoro, the 34-year-old former Davis Cup hero who returned to the scene of his famous triumph in the 2002 final here and upset Tommy Robredo late on Monday night.
There is also a route opening up for even further progress because an unseeded player is certain to reach the semi-finals after the other seed in that quarter, David Ferrer, seeded No.8, was also beaten.
The world No.15 from Spain lost 7-6 6-1 in an unusual contest to Robin Soderling, the improving Swede who reached his career highest ranking of 23 last month.
Ferrer led 4-1 in the first set and then had five set points in a 28-point tiebreaker, but after losing so many opportunities in such a monster first-set decider, fell away sharply in the second.
Agence France-Presse