Shanghai: France’s Gilles Simon said on Sunday he was “positive” following a blistering Asian campaign, which culminated in the Shanghai Masters final, but he regretted not taking his chances against eventual champion Roger Federer.
The 29th-ranked player in the world will return to the top 20 after a brilliant showing during the Asian swing, which he concluded with a defiant display against the 17-time Grand Slam winner.
Simon unsettled the Swiss veteran early on by taking his serve in the opening game, before losing the first set at the tie-break after failing to convert a set point when he was 6-5 ahead.
The 29-year-old then missed two more break points in the final game of the second set, which allowed the third seed in Shanghai to march on and claim victory.
“I really regret to have missed the final game that was really for me to win, and I really don’t like that,” Simon said.
“Well, there isn’t much I can do now, it was on the court that I should have won it, but I try to stay positive, to consider what went well, and to look ahead.”
Simon arrived in Shanghai in a rich vein of form after reaching the semi-finals in Tokyo, losing to world number eight Milos Raonic.
He took two top ten scalps in China — Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka and then sixth seed Czech Tomas Berdych in the Shanghai quarter-finals after taking every game in the final set.
It has been a stunning return to form for the former world number six, who admitted he had “mixed feelings” given that he knows good results can dry up at any time.
But Simon said that, when he is at the top of his game, he can be a match for anyone.
“I see that, whoever is the player in front of me, when I play that way, I’ve got a chance to win and it incites me to do great things,” he said.
