Gilles Simon claims clay is "no longer Roger Federer's goal", says the Swiss is playing on clay just to prepare for grass
Gilles Simon recently gave his thoughts on a wide range of topics, right from Roger Federer's return to action at the Geneva Open to the fierce rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Speaking in an interview with l'Equipe, Simon first claimed that doing well on clay was no longer a priority for Federer.
The Frenchman also opined that Roger Federer is playing Roland Garros just to add more matches under his belt before Wimbledon.
"Clay is no longer really his (Roger Federer's) goal," Simon said. "I don't think Roland Garros is the Grand Slam tournament he most wants to win right now. He plays on clay to hope to win matches, polish his physique and bring it all to the grass."
Gilles Simon also claimed that if Roger Federer somehow manages to go all the way in Paris, the exertion could turn out to be "painful" for him given his age.
"There it will be more painful," Simon said. "The Grand Slam he has in mind is Wimbledon. Roland Garros is part of the plan."
Their level of play has dropped a little with the constraints of age, but Novak Djokovic & Rafael Nadal still reach the final: Gilles Simon
During the interaction, Gilles Simon also spoke about the cut-throat rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. The two giants clashed against each other in the final of the Italian Open on Sunday, with Nadal winning 7-5, 1-6, 6-3.
That said, both of them had to overcome marathon battles earlier in the week. Rafael Nadal saved match points against Denis Shapovalov in the third round, while Novak Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas despite the latter having served for the match at one point.
Gilles Simon attributed their struggles to a decrease in their "efficiency" as they've grown older.
"The margin is shrinking, their level of play has dropped a little with the constraints of age, but they still reach the final," Simon said. "I found Nadal and Djokovic less efficient than a few years ago."
The Frenchman further suggested that while Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have a few faults in their game now, they are still dominating the men's tour because of their mental strength.
"They have less margin, they are more and more hooked by increasingly different players, they have fewer and fewer quiet matches, but ... it holds! This is where you see they are strong," Simon said.
The 36-year-old was then probed about the imminent prospect of Daniil Medvedev being the second seed at Roland Garros. Although Rafael Nadal was able to triumph at Barcelona and Rome, the Spaniard couldn't accrue enough points to leapfrog Medvedev in the rankings.
Many believe that Nadal would be better equipped to enter Roland Garros as the second seed, given his claycourt credentials. But Simon insisted that Medvedev deserves his ranking, despite the contrary opinions being expressed on social media.
"We cannot do the rankings we want to do," Simon said. "The classification exists, the points have not been stolen. I like this notion of classification. And Daniil deserves to be # 2. Otherwise, we just have to take a Twitter ranking or a Facebook ranking."