Simon Surges Into Ninth Final

© Getty ImagesGilles Simon is through to his first ATP World Tour final of the season.

Former World No. 6 Gilles Simon reached his ninth ATP World Tour final Saturday with a resounding 6-3, 6-2 victory over sixth-seeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the semi-finals of the Open de Moselle in Metz.

Having never won a match in four previous visits to the ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard-court tournament, Simon has battled through four matches this week to reach his first final in just under a year. In October 2009 he won his sixth career title in Bangkok (d. Troicki).

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The eighth-seeded Simon won four points in a row from 30/0 down on Kohlschreiber’s serve in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead, and from there went on to seal a one-set advantage. He then raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set, before closing out victory in only 53 minutes against Kohlschreiber, who had crushed top seed Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals. An impressive serving display from the 25-year-old Simon saw him surrender just six points on serve and fire eight aces. 

"Today I played my best tennis," said Simon. "From beginning to end I was solid, and to beat a player such as Philipp like this shows that I am playing with confidence. I think I served really well. I have been serving well for a few matches already; it’s probably what has saved me in the earlier matches when I wasn’t playing as good.”

The Nice native is looking to become the fourth French champion in Metz (since 2003) and in the final he will look to overturn a 0-2 record against German Mischa Zverev, who was granted his place in the final when Richard Gasquet withdrew prior to their semi-final match with a fever.

"It feels great to be in a final again and in your country it’s always more special," said Simon. "Although Mischa [Zverev] is not a player I’ve been successful against, anything can happen in a final and I will do everything possible to earn a seventh career title tomorrow."

The 23-year-old Zverev is the first qualifier to reach an ATP World Tour final this season and the lowest-ranked finalist at No. 155 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings. After losing out in three previous semi-final efforts, he is through to his career-first ATP World Tour final.

"I obviously have mixed feelings; it’s weird to be in the final without having played and I would have preferred to play the match and win it," said Zverev. "But I am in the final and of course I am happy about it. It’s my first final so it is something special. I know it will be difficult, we are in France and I will have the crowd against me. But I know I can play well and do something good. I look forward to it."

“It’s very unfortunate and I am sad not to be able to compete here today," lamented Gasquet, who reached the Metz final in 2004. "I wasn’t feeling good yesterday and the fever came during the night. I didn’t sleep well at all. I tried to warm up this morning but I had to stop after 10 minutes. 

"I wanted to wait as long as possible to see if I could play but I am not getting any better so I took the decision not to play. I feel very sorry for the event and I am sad too because I was looking forward to today and having a shot at reaching the final tomorrow.”