Gilles Simon needed just 67 minutes to move into the ATP Rotterdam World Tennis quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy on Thursday.
The compatriot’s clash at the Ahoy Stadium improved Simon’s record over Chardy to a perfect 3-0 after wins at Roland Garros in 2011 and the Madrid Masters in 2013.
Simon, ranked 19th, will wait for the winner of top seed Andy Murray’s second round tie with Canadian challenger Vasek Pospisil.
Simon, holder of 11 career titles, finished his modest effort with nine winners and broke Chardy twice in the second set. The winner never faced a break point.
Simon finished off with a backhand pass to set up a match point, then fired a duplicate shot down the line a point later to claim his fifth win of the season.
The two-time semi-finalist is competing in Rotterdam for the seventh time and won his 10th match at the event. – Agence France-Presse
