Simon To Replace Injured Tipsarevic At Kooyong

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 30th December 2013

BNP Paribas 2013 Masters Tennis Tournament

Simon To Replace Injured Tipsarevic At Kooyong

epa03931162 Gilles Simon of France returns the ball to David Ferrer of Spain during their round of eight match at the BNP Paribas 2013 Masters tennis tournament in Paris, France, 31 October 2013. EPA/IAN LANGSDON |

Gilles Simon will replace injured Janko Tipsarevic at the Kooyong Club Australian Open tune-up. The former No. 6 from France comes into the eight-man field for the January 8-11 exhibition after Serb Tipsarevic was forced to withdraw with a long-running ruptured tendon in his heel.

Simon will play after competing at the Brisbane ATP event which begins on Sunday. “I’m very happy to be preparing for the Australian Open at Kooyong this year,” said Simon. It’s a great event and perfect preparation.”

Simon joins a field which includes top 10 contenders Tomas Berdych, Stanislas Wawrinka, and Richard Gasquet along with Kei Nishikori, holder Lleyton Hewitt, Spain’s Fernando Verdasco and Grigor Dimitrov.

Tipsarevic has been fighting his heel problem since October. “Since injuring my heel three months ago I have had a tough time. I was hopeful of recovering in time – I enjoyed playing at Kooyong last year the fans were great and the atmosphere was a lot of fun. But my heel needs time to recover so I am sorry that I will not be able to play. I will be working hard to get over this injury and get back to playing tennis quickly.”

Topics: 10sballs, Atp, Fernando Verdasco, Gilles Simon, GRIGOR DIMITROV, Janko Tipsarevic, Kei Nishikori, Kooyong, Lleyton Hewitt, Richard Gasquet, Sports, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych