Race to the Top 8 Men - Rio de Janeiro, Marseille, Delray Beach

1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) - 12,638,209

2. Andy Murray (GBR) - 6,4555,507

3. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) - 5,262,936

4. Tomas Berdych (CZE) - 4,517,218

5. David Ferrer (ESP) - 2,544,365

6. Kei Nishikori (JPN) - 2,257,844

7. Milos Raonic (CAN) - 2,195,858

8. Rafael Nadal (ESP) - 1,915,761

8. Nick Kyrgios (AUS) - 1,562,123

9. Gilles Simon (FRA) - 1,108,344

10. Ivo Karlovic (CRO) - 770,679

11. Fabio Fognini (ITA) - 762,856

12. Gael Monfils (FRA) - 646,641

13. Richard Gasquet (FRA) - 634,633

14. Pablo Cuevas (URU) - 621,469

15. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) - 543,843

16. Andreas Seppi (ITA) - 529,157

17. Jiri Vesely (CZE) - 464,490

18. Donald Young (USA) - 448,643

19. Roger Federer (SUI) - 439,405

20. Victor Troicki (SRB) - 439,405

21. Victor Estrella Burgos (DOM) - 439,405

22. Kevin Anderson (RSA) - 409,058

23. Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) - 404,075

24. Gilles Muller (LUX) -367,304

25. Sergei Stakhovsky (UKR) - 365,152

26. Adrian Mannarino (ITA) - 354,301

27. Bernard Tomic (AUS) - 305,141

28. Joao Souza (BRA) - 287,982

29. Roberto Bautista Agut - 259,010

30. Jerzy Janowicz (POL) - 246,703

31. Luca Vanni (ITA) - 222,325

32. Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) - 219,703

33. Feliciano Lopez (ESP) - 219,703

34. Aljaz Bedene (GBR) - 201,748

35. Steve Johnson (USA) - 192,324

36. Juan Monaco (ARG) - 176,819

37. Federico Delbonis (ARG) - 176,819

38. Leonardo Mayer (ARG) - 165,432

39. Sam Querrey (USA) - 146,468

40. Dustin Brown (GER) - 141,227

41. Ivan Dodig (CRO) - 141,227

42. Simone Bolleli (ITA) -133,994

43. Joao Sousa (POR) - 123,352

44. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) - 123,352

45. Marcel Granollers (ESP) - 123,352

46. Lucas Pouille (FRA) - 116,123

47. Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) - 111,465

48. Santiago Giraldo (COL) - 111,163

49. Dusan Lajovic (SRB) - 110,507

50. Martin Klizan (SVK) - 109,851

51. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) - 109,851

52. Fernando Verdasco (ESP) - 109,851

53. Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) - 109,851

54.  David Goffin (BELO) - 100,874

55. Jeremy Chardy (FRA) - 79,068

56. Dominic Thiem (AUT) - 79,068

57. Austin Krajicek (USA) - 73,234

58. John Isner (USA) - 73,234

59. Denis Istomin (UZB) - 61,676

60. Steve Darcis (BEL) - 61,676

61. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) - 61,676

62. Victor Troicki (SRB) - 61,676

63. Ricardas Berankis (LTU) - 61,676

64. Igor Sijsling (NED) - 61,676

65. Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) - 61,028

66. Aleksandr Dolgopolov (UKR) - 61,028

67. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) - 61,676

68. Alejandro Falla (COL) - 58,062

69. Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) - 58,062

67. Nicolas Almagro (ESP) - 55,581

68. James Duckworth (AUS) - 54,926

69. Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) - 54,926

70. Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) -54,926

71. Sam Groth (AUS) - 54,926

72. Julien Benetteau (FRA) - 54,926

73. Albert Montanes (ESP) - 54,926

Wimbledon 2015: A Great Chance to Lift Another Grand Slam Trophy for the Maestro

Now that the maestro is in his favorite surface and that he won a warm up tournament leading to this year's Wimbledon, everyone is abuzz again of Roger Federer's chances of adding another grand slam to his already impressive collection.

His chances have been helped by fate putting him in a side of the men's draw where he can and should get the semifinal slot. He has had a more emphatic grass season than the other three guys he might meet prior to that semifinal, Gilles Simon, Tomas Berdych and Feliciano Lopez.

It's what happens after the semifinal where everything becomes more interesting - as possible opponents include Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, who I think are the other two most likely in-form top players right now in the men's draw - and who have the credentials to succeed in grass. 

Elite Men's Team Award for 2015 French Open - FRANCE

France wins this year's Elite Men's Team Award for the 2015 French Open by putting an amazing five players into the fourth round!  There is no top 10 male player from France this week, so putting five players in the top 16 is very impressive.  France is led by Gilles Simon, the highest ranking male French player now, at #13, Gael Monfils (#14), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (#15), Richard Gasquet (#21) and Jeremy Chardy (#45).

Elite Men's Team Award US Open 2014: France

France snags the last Elite Men's Team Award this year in the 2014 US Open.  Their fiercest rival, Spain, has swept the other three grand slams.  The team of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils ensured that the award went to France this time.

This website awards the Elite Men's Team Award to the country that puts the most number of players into the fourth round of each of the grand slams.  In case of a tie, the current week seedings of the players into the fourth round will be added up, and the country with the smallest sum wins the award.

Pablo Cuevas: Breakout Player of the 2013 French Open

Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, currently ranked #762, is the Breakout Player for this year's French Open.  He reached the second round of the French Open after defeating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, currently ranked #110, 63 26 63 57 75. He lost to Gilles Simon in the second round, 76(2) 16 16 16.

French Open 2013: Federer Express Expected Again in the Semi's

Roger Federer gets Jo-Wilfried Tsonga again on his side of the draw, but, this is the French Open, and most French players, do not really perform well in front of their home crowd. I don't even expect Tsonga to reach the quarterfinals.  I pick Juan Monaco instead to meet Roger Federer in the quarters.  Roger may have two possible French opponents as well before he reaches the semis, Julien Bennetteau and Gilles Simon.  Otherwise, he should be able to reach the semifinals of his side of the draw, without much problem.

Australian Open 2013: Elite Men's Team Award

France has won the Elite Men's Team Award for the Australian Open three times before - 1998, 2006 and 2009.  Both Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon were part of the winning 2009 team.  Once again, they are part of the French team that wins the 2013 Elite Men's Team Award for the Australian Open.  This time, their winning team includes Jeremy Chardy and Richard Gasquet.

The other country finalists in this category for the 2013 Australian Open are the following -
Serbia, Switzerland, Spain, South Africa, Czech Republic, Japan, Poland, Italy, Great Britain and Canada.

FO 2012: Matches I've Seen - Ryan Harrison vs. Gilles Simon

In the first set through the beginning of the second set of his first round match today here in Roland Garros against Ryan Harrison, Gilles Simon looked out of sorts, I guess, mainly because of the pressure as one of the leading male players for France.  He lost the first set.  However, he was able to find his mojo just in time and won the next three sets.  Ryan was actually leading in the second set at 54 and was ready to close it but Gilles closed it out at 75.  

I then thought Gilles would dominate the third set but Ryan still was toe-to-toe with him but did not have much firepower when needed most.  Gilles won it 64.  By the fourth set, Gilles was already dominant and won it 61.

Related articles

• Gilles Simon: Surprise Semifinalist in Monte Carlo 2012

  ---

• Jason Statham: 'Bear-y' Hot

  ---

• Twinkie Fun: Francis Boyce

  ---

• Body Combat With the Cuties Today

  ---

Gilles Simon: Surprise Semifinalist in Monte Carlo 2012

I knew it was asking too much from Gilles Simon to defeat Rafael Nadal in the semi's of Monte Carlo yesterday, but during the game, he showed flashes of brilliance but could not quite sustain it enough to damage the strong armor of the King of Clay.  But still, a semifinal appearance in Monte Carlo is a big deal for this talented Frenchman who had to win over two higher seeded players (Janko Tipsarevic in the 3rd round and countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals) to get to this stage.  The 63 6 scoreline did not quite depict what went on court but it also does not take out the fact that Nadal really feels confident now, so that when he sees aggressiveness across the net, he has no qualms about quashing the challenge, pronto!

ATP Top Tennis Nations 2011: #2 France

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (#6) leads the ten French players in the Top 100 of 2011, making France, the second best tennis nation of 2011 in the ATP Tour.  Gilles Simon is at #12, Gael Monfils at #16, Richard Gasquet at #19, Michael Llodra at #47, Julien Benneteau at #52, Nicolas Mahut at #80, Adrian Mannarino at #87, Benoit Paire at #95 and Eric Prodon at #97.

Eleven other French players are currently stationed from #101 to #200, so the future of French men's tennis is alive and well!

Gilles Simon Flirting With Top 10 After Hamburg Win

Gilles Simon rises to #11 this week after winning Hamburg this year.  Earlier this year, he also won the Sydney title.  Simon had had to win over three players ranked higher than him to win the title, starting with Monfils (#7) in the qfs, Youzhny (#17) in the semi's and Almagro (#14) in the finals.  Going into Hamburg, he was ranked #18.  Now, with the Hamburg title, Simon is knocking on the door of the Top 10 once more.  He reached as high as #6 in 2009.

French Open 2011: Elite Men's Team Country Award

France wins this year's French Open Elite Men's Team Country Award by a hairline against archrival, Spain.  Three Frenchmen and three Spanish men have made it through the fourth round, so I had to use their current rankings to determine the winning country.  Spain's fourth round entrants were Rafael Nadal (#1), David Ferrer (#7) and Albert Montanes (#38) so their country had a total 46 points. 

On the other hand, France's fourth round entrants are Gael Monfils (#8), Richard Gasquet (#16) and Gilles Simon (#19), for a total of 43 points, 3 points lower than Spain.  So France gets the award this year, and most fittingly, in the French Open grand slam!

Favorite Match Australian Open 2011: 2nd Round Match Between Federer and Simon

I love the way Gilles Simon played today in his second round match between tennis legend, Roger Federer.  In sets 3 and 4, he really upped his game that it was wonderful to see how he moved Roger around!  Unfortunately, in the final set, the ever calm Federer, found a way to impose his game once again and was up 4-2 in just a few minutes.  Still, Simon continued to fight but it was in vain as the set ended 6-3.  Even then, his effort was fantastic, considering that his rank now is in the 30s.  Today, he played like a Top 10 player and I hope he finds his confidence and form that propelled him to that high rank before.  Simon's game is still there!  As for Federer, that game was a real wake up call for him and knowing how smart he is, he can fine tune his current preparations in time for more difficult opponents in the days to come.

ATP Rankings: January 17, 2011

There is some movement in the men's rankings after the tournaments around Asia, Australia and New Zealand.  The biggest mover within the Top 100 has been Frederico Gil of Portugal, who moved 11 places to #91.  Gilles Simon of France is the second biggest mover, moving seven places from #41 to #34 along with Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine, from #50 to #43. David Nalbandian of Argentina is the third biggest mover, moving six laces from #27 to #21 along with Adrian Mannarino of France, who moved from #80 to #74.

Finally, Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia is the highest mover nearest the top spot, moving one notch to #16.  There is no movement this week from #1 to #15. 

Gilles Simon - Champion: Sydney Medibank International

Gilles Simon (#34) wins his first ATP title this year by winning over Viktor Troicki in the Sydney Medibank International. This is his eighth ATP title all in all. This was his path to the championship -

F - Viktor Troicki (SRB) (#27) 75 76(4)
SF - Ernests Gulbis (LAT) (#23) 76(1) 60
QF - Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) (#46) 64 63
2R - Frederico Gil (POR) (#91) 61 63
1R - Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) (#37) 60 63

Metz 2010 Champion: Gilles Simon of France

Gilles Simon wins his 7th career ATP title last week at the Metz Open.  This is his 4th straight year of winning at least one ATP title.  Below was Gilles' path to the championship at Metz -

Finals - Mischa Zverev of Germany (#155) 6-3, 6-2
SFs - Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany (#31) 6-3, 6-2
QFs - Xavier Malisse of Belgium (#55) 7-5, 4-6, 6-1
2R - Igor Sijsling of Netherlands (#148) 6-1, 6-7, 6-3
1R - Dustin Brown of Jamaica (#118) 6-3, 6-4

I hope with this title, Gilles regains some of his confidence back and slowly climb back, at least, even to the Top 20.