By DPA,
Indianapolis (Indiana) : illes Simon emerged a strongman at the end of a draining win over Sam Querrey as the French second seed reached the final of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Simon, world number 25, marshalled his physical resources on a sweltering, humid day in the Midwest, while American Querrey faded in the heat.
The French winner of three career titles will await an opponent as top seed James Blake clashes with Russia’s third-seeded defending champion Dmitry Tursunov.
Querrey, who made a breakthrough a year ago at Indy by reaching the last four, could go no further on an afternoon in which he lost in just over two hours.
The 20-year-old Californian leaned heavily on his racket after every point in the final set, looking up and getting ready just in time for play to continue.
“I knew I had good chances to win all the way through,” said Simon, now 25-16 on the season. “He started to look tired in the middle of the second set.
“This is a match that I’ll remember for a long time. It was not played at a great level, but it was a huge fight.”
Simon dominated on serve, with 11 aces to the three of a run-down Querrey, who lost on 16 of his 19 breakpoint chances.
Simon swept the opening set in what looked like a runaway and reached 4-2 in the second. But a pair of double-faults in a loose game gave Querrey a break-back for 3-4 as the Californian levelled at a set each.
In the third, Querry was running on empty with his big game reduced to a trickle, while Simon kept up his steady attack.
“I kept fighting, especially when I could seem him leaning on his racket after points in the third set,” said the French winner. “I could tell he was tired, and that kept me fighting.”