Gilles Simon overcame Canada's main man, Vasek Pospisil in straight sets to give France a 2-0 lead, with one foot in the quarterfinals ahead of the crucial doubles rubber.
Simon Overcomes Poor Start
With France already one up in the tie, Simon had chances to make it two nil and leave the hosts in the boxseat for the doubles. After just 17 minutes the Canadian was 5-0 up after a sluggish start from the French. With Clay being Pospisil's least prefered surface, he started to crumble under the pressure and humidity. Pospisil was at 30-all on Simon's serve in the sixth set, but that seemed to be the closest the Canadian came to winning the set. Simon closed the set out as he won seven game in a row. Both players won 67 percent of their first serves, while Pospisil dominated on his second, winning 89 percent to the Frenchman's 75.
Solid Simon wins the second
The Frenchman continued his dominance by breaking at the very start of the match with a backhand cross court winner, in which he consolidated that break to make it 9 games in a row and get France off to the perfect start in the second set. Vasek held his own to to m make it 3-1. Both players continued to hold on serve until Simon broke in the ninth game. Pospisil pulled it back to duece, but on advantage, Simon hit a forehand winner. At this point, Pospisil seemed to be struggling, showing signs of exhaustion towards the end of the set. The Canadian struggled on his second serve, hitting only 50 percent in. The Frenchman took his chances on break points, winning 50 percent of them. Pospisil had considerably more unforced errors with 13, while Simon had 8.
Simon finishes off tired Pospisil
Pospisil started the second with break points, but Simon rallied from 40 love down to hold serve. Despite showing signs of fatigue during the second set, Pospisil was pushing Simon. With the crowd in fine form, Simon started to respond and in the eighth game he broke Pospisil and had a chance to serve it out. In the ninth game, Simon came from 30 love down to clinch the match with a slice forehand. Simon's dominance in the third set was told by the stats, wining 66 percent of his first serves and 67 of his second. Pospisil failed to convert any of his five break points, while the French only needed the one for the win.
Match Stats
Simon found success on his serve, winning 75 percent on his first serve and 85 percent on his second serve, while the Canadian found success on his second serve winning 92 percent. Simon had 36 forced errors to Pospisil's 34. Simon dominated the match with 30 unforced errors and 20 winners. Pospisil had 58 unforced errors, but hit 28 winners during the match.