Frenchman Gilles Simon Becomes a Father

by Parsa Samii, GEM Tennis (parsa@gemtennis.com)

New York: US Open — Frenchman Gilles Simon’s longtime girlfriend has given birth to Simon’s son Timothee four weeks early in France. The unexpected birth didn’t give Simon ample time to get back to France to witness the birth of his first child. ““It’s been rough; anybody in this situation would have felt ill at ease,” he said. “In any case, I couldn’t have been there. When I fell asleep on Wednesday, there was no sign, and the next day, I get a call to tell me: ‘My water broke. I’m at the maternity ward.’

“I couldn’t have made it in time.”

In an obvious difficult predicament, things don’t get easier for Simon as he next faces world #1 Rafael Nadal in the third round of the 2010 US Open. Simon’s focus can’t be in the right place, but sometime these things have funny ways of working out, but tennis wise Nadal is the clear favorite. For Simon the match is a win/win situation.

“If I win it’ll be fabulous,” Simon said. “If I lose, it’ll be even more fabulous.”

Congratulations to Simon on becoming a father and good luck to him and his family!