"I have a not easy draw for a last Roland. Once again, I'm just going to do the max and try to take advantage of it," said the former 6th in the world, now 159th.
"I am lucky to be able to do one last Roland tournament, I will try to make the most of it," he insisted.
He also assured that his decision to put away the rackets at the end of the year, announced on May 7, was irreversible: "there is no going back," he said.
Emotionally, "I expected more things (...) whereas when I announced it, nothing happened in the end", he admitted.
"I said to myself that I had made the right decision, that it made sense, that I was completely and 100% comfortable with it, no regrets, no twinges, no nostalgia, just the "I felt like I did everything I could for as long as I could. Unfortunately, it's getting too difficult, you have to stop there," Simon explained.
At 37, after 17 seasons on the circuit, he has 14 titles and 498 victories.
So would he be disappointed if he failed to reach the symbolic bar of 500 victories during the coming months?
"Not at all, because I don't remember having passed the 400, nor the 300", he replies tit for tat.
"Getting to 500 isn't going to change much. Do I feel capable of it? It's not easy. We'll see. Honestly, it won't change anything in my life whether it's reached or not. ".
© 2022 AFP