"I am so happy to tell you that it's over now and I'll be there, I love you with all my heart" - Gilles Simon saves his last thanks for his wife during Paris Masters farewell
Gilles Simon played the final ATP match of his career at the 2022 Paris Masters, going out in the third round to Felix Auger-Aliassime. After scoring upset wins over Andy Murray and Taylor Fritz in the opening two rounds, the Frenchman could not do the same against Auger-Aliassime, falling 1-6, 3-6 in straight sets despite a spirited performance.
Speaking in his on-court interview afterward, the 37-year-old bid adieu to the sport in front of his home fans after two long decades, thanking them for supporting him throughout his career. But Simon reserved his best for last, lavishing praise on his wife Carine Lauret for backing him from behind the scenes.
Gilles Simon était bien entouré pour ses adieux 💙
#RolexParisMasters
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The Frenchman acknowledged that he waited until the end to bring up his wife's name since he would have been too emotionally overwhelmed otherwise, thanking her for sticking by him through thick and thin over the years.
"My wife is hiding in the stands. She should have been on the court. Thank you for everything. I know how difficult all this was for you. I am finishing (this speech) with you, because otherwise it would have been too hard," Simon said, as reported by journalist Christopher Clarey. "All these moments when you were proud of me, or you wanted me to stop. All these arrivals at the hotel at 2 in the morning."
Touching words from retiring Frenchman Gilles Simon after his final match on tour: a loss to Felix Auger Aliassime at the Paris Masters.
In his farewell speech, Simon saved his wife Carine Lauret for last: https://t.co/fpqRF1U1ys
The former World No. 6 further noted how difficult it must have been for his wife to be in the background while he went about his tennis career, promising that he would be there for her without fail from now on. Finally, Gilles Simon declared his undying love for his wife, thanking her once again for everything she did to make sure that he could focus on his tennis distraction-free.
"We both know how difficult this role in the background can be. I am so happy to tell you that it's over now. I will be there. I thank you for letting me live my passion for so long," Gilles Simon said. "It was so important to know that everything was being handled perfectly at home. I love you with all my heart and thank you for it all."
"Overall I have no regrets, I just feel so lucky to have been a tennis player" - Gilles Simon
Speaking at his post-match press conference, Gilles Simon touched on his tennis career, stating that he had no regrets, even though he felt like there were things he could have improved upon.Proudly declaring that he was lucky to have been a tennis professional, something that had always been his childhood dream, the Frenchman was happy to hang up his racquet at this point in his career and left the sport with no conflicted feelings whatsoever.
"Yes, certainly there are things I could have improved, things that could have been done better, but it goes both ways. That's why overall I have no regrets, because as I said yesterday, for me, it doesn't change. I just feel so lucky to have been a tennis player," Gilles Simon said. "It's what I have always wanted to be. I was a professional tennis player for a long time, and that's why I was lucky twice and I could stop when I wanted, and so I have been lucky three times."