David Ferrer faces a tough test against Gilles Simon as he looks to continue his comeback.
Ferrer secured a hard-fought win over wildcard Grigor Dimitrov on Wednesday, battling past the Bulgarian 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 in his first tour level match for over a month after he sustained a hairline wrist fracture in training.
The Spaniard’s speedy return to the court has stunned everyone but there appeared to be no adverse effects as he ground his way to the third round, just a lot of rust.
He will have to raise his game considerably to get any further as next up is world number 12 Simon who’s enjoying his best season since 2008 and is back on the verge of the top ten after winning the ATP 500 event in Hamburg last month.
At his best Simon is capable of reaching Masters Series finals as he showed during his surge to six in the rankings three years ago and he will be even more dangerous when the tour moves indoors later in the season.
He came from a set and a break down to see off world number 20 and Montreal semi-finalist Janko Tipsarevic 6-7, 6-2, 6-3. Simon found himself trailing 2-0 in the second set but mounted a stunning fightback to take the next six games and leave Tipsarevic reeling.
This will be a lengthy battle of attrition from the back of the court but look for Simon’s extra sharpness to give him the crucial edge.
