Video - The day Simon brought down Fritz at Bercy in the final tournament of his career

Next year, Gaël Monfils will be the last of the famous Four Musketeers to retire. Before him, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon retired in 2022.

At the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 three years ago, the Frenchman, then aged 37, received a wildcard to play the final tournament of his career. A former world No. 6, the Nice native wanted to experience one last thrill in front of his home crowd.

In the first round, the Frenchman had already delivered a fine performance by defeating Andy Murray (4-6, 7-5, 6-3), for the third time in nineteen meetings against the Scot. In the next round, Simon faced Taylor Fritz, who was set to play the ATP Finals for the first time in his career just a few days later.

Having won his first Masters 1000 a few months earlier at Indian Wells, the Californian was the heavy favorite for this match. But, driven by a fiery crowd, Simon found the resources to defeat Fritz for the second time in three encounters (7-5, 5-7, 6-4 in 3h05) despite his opponent's 49 winners.

The Bercy crowd was able to rejoice one last time, as this would be the Frenchman's final career victory. In the round of 16, he fell to Félix Auger-Aliassime (6-1, 6-3).

A semi-finalist in the tournament in 2012 against Jerzy Janowicz, Simon thus reached the round of 16 in his final appearance, while the Canadian was beaten by the eventual champion, Holger Rune, in the semi-finals.