Gilles Simon beaten by Marin Cilic in the third round for his last match at Roland-Garros

Gilles Simon didn’t have much left in the tank. After a completely crazy first round on Tuesday against Pablo Carreno Busta, completed at the end of the night on Simonne-Mathieu, and a quieter second against Steve Johnson, the Niçois did not work a miracle this time against Marin Cilic. The Croatian, far superior, glued three sets in just under two hours to the French (6-0, 6-3, 6-2), who was playing his last match at Roland-Garros. Simon couldn’t hope for more. With only 7 winning moves in three sets (against 42 for the Croatian), the Frenchman saw the games go by during the first 45 minutes. Despite a tiny jump at the end of the second set (from 5-1 to 5-3), there was never a match. We even thought that the third round would not be over, when the Niçois asked for a medical time-out when he was down 2-1. Gilles Simon was treated on the court during the third set. (F. Seguin/L’Équipe) But for his last match at Roland, he wanted to go to the end of the story. “Wishing you the best,” Cilic wrote on camera, a winner’s privilege, after qualifying. The Croatian, classy to the end, was relayed a few moments later by a Central who was waiting to celebrate one of his Musketeers.