Gilles Simon has knocked fourth seed David Ferrer out of the US Open, beating the Spaniard 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-3 in the third round this evening.
Ferrer had a couple of chances to break the 26th seed early in the first set, but could not take advantage of his opportunities.
The Spanish player was made to pay for missing his chances later in the set when Simon got the break before serving out the set.
The Frenchman struggled in the second set, getting just 39% of his first serves in to give his opponent plenty of chances to attack.
Simon cancelled out a break from the Spaniard at the start of the set, but Ferrer was soon able to regain the lead in the second, enabling him to level the match.
Simon responded well, upping his game to put Ferrer under pressure straight away in the third, allowing the fourth seed to claim just one game in the set as he took a 2-1 lead.
The 26th seed made a better start to the fourth, while Ferrer served a couple of double faults, leaving the French player to serve for the match.
Ferrer fought hard to prolong the meeting, bringing up two break points during the final game of the match, but Simon dug deep to save both before wrapping up the match a couple of rallies later.
Simon will face either Marin Cilic or Kevin Anderson in the next round.
Sian Cowper
