Simon strolls as France take Great Britain Davis Cup opener

Gilles Simon gave France the perfect start to their Davis Cup World Group quarter-final against Great Britain with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 victory over James Ward on Friday.

Simon, the world number 11, took just less than two hours to demolish Ward on the grass-courts of Queen's Club in west London.

"It was a great match for me. I got lucky to have an early break in each set. It was not easy. There's a lot of wind," Simon said.

The 30-year-old's success puts pressure on world number three Andy Murray, who plays for Britain in the second singles match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga later on Friday.

A Tsonga victory over Murray would leave France needing only one more win from either Saturday's doubles or the two remaining singles matches on Sunday to secure a semi-final showdown against Australia or Kazakhstan in September.

It will be Murray's first match since his Wimbledon semi-final thrashing at the hands of Roger Federer.
The 28-year-old Scot holds a 10-2 record against world number 12 Tsonga, winning all four of their tour-level matches on grass including two at Queen's Club, where he is a four-time champion.

For the sixth successive year, nine-time winners France, who finished as runners-up to Switzerland last year, are through to the World Group quarter-finals.

Britain haven't beaten France in the Davis Cup since 1978 and, in the first meeting with their old rivals for 23 years, the hosts are seeking a first Davis Cup semi-final berth since 1981.

A win for Ward would have been a major step towards achieving that goal but he couldn't recreate his memorable upset of big-serving John Isner of the United States in the previous round.

The 28-year-old enjoyed an impressive run to the third round at Wimbledon this month that took him into the world's top 100.
But Simon was in even better form on grass, having made the Wimbledon quarter-finals before losing to Roger Federer.

Ward is ranked 78 places below Simon and the Frenchman's extra class was on full display when he cleverly worked the angles to break in the fifth game.

Simon's subtle mix of ground-strokes kept Ward from establishing any momentum and he easily took the first set.

There was an intriguing sub-plot to the first meeting between Ward and Simon as they are regular practice partners whose respective coaches were once doubles partners.

It seemed Simon had learnt more from their training sessions as he broke in the third game for a decisive lead in the second set.

With a two-set advantage, Simon showed no signs of letting up, whipping a forehand winner to break in the opening game of the third set and adding another break two games later to seal a dominant display.
Source: AFP