Simon explains method to madness, but won't reveal how he took Nole five sets

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—It was a hot, dry day typical of Indian Wells, but Vasek Pospisil could afford to have a little spring in his step. The Canadian had just won the first set, 6-1, against Gilles Simon, and seemed to be in command of the match.

Instead, it was his opponent who was becoming increasingly confident.

"The three games of the set from 4-0 to 6-1, the rallies were longer," Simon would recall in a couple of hours, leaning forward on a stool in the cool comfort of the player's lounge. “I had a break point. I had a feeling it's coming. It's going to be more even in the second set.”

Actually, he was completely wrong. The second set was even more one-sided than the first, but this time in his favor—he would take the next two sets, 6-0, 6-1, to complete the turnaround and win the match. (He would lose in the third round, 6-2, 6-2, to up-and-comer Alexander Zverev.)

Pospisil might have known what was coming even as he walked back to his chair. It was the third time he had played Simon this season, and he had always built a lead before sliding into the quicksand of the Frenchman's steady, hypnotic game.

It was only a week ago that Pospisil had been up 5-0 against Simon in a Davis Cup match before dropping seven straight games. But still, the experience seemed to be as confusing as ever.

"I don't know," Pospisil said wearily when pressed for an explanation, his cheeks even more flushed than usual. "I didn't play well."

That might have had something to do with who was on the other side of the net. Most players on tour look to strike, immediately or eventually. Simon's game slowly wraps itself around the opponent, almost imperceptibly, and the unwary player may only realize once a vice-like grip has been established on the match.

That's what happened to Pospisil.

"He was on top of me, like really playing good, serving well,” Simon recalled. “It was hard for me to find my rhythm. “Finally ... [I] was able to play more points, to play long points, to stay in the rally. The shots were a bit better.

"And it made a huge difference. I didn't think it would make so much."

At first glance, it might seem like all he's doing is running around and getting the ball back. But Simon is not that simple.

"Maybe it seems similar from the side, but I know I have a different strategy against any player, depending on their strengths and on their weaknesses," he said. "There are some players that, I feel sometimes with my coach, we say, 'OK, there is no tactic. You just go. You are better. You have better shots, you play what you have to and you win.'

"But I always have a few things ... it can be the position in the return, it can be the placement of the shots, it can be the position from the baseline. Maybe you don't notice that I play one meter behind the baseline or I play three meters behind, but for me it's a difference."

While he's scored wins against Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal during his career, the most prominent example of this approach might be his recent five-set match against Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.

Djokovic famously made 100 unforced errors in what was widely seen as an off-day followed by a stretch of exceptional brilliance. But for Simon, there was more to it than that, though he will not divulge the specifics.

"I do not have any tips or anything to tell to my opponents," Simon insisted. "I'm trying to do something on the court. I know it can work. I know if it's not working, it's going to be two and one."

It seems obvious that he was hitting mid-paced shots, often down the center of the court, and extending points enough that even an ultra-rallier like Djokovic was becoming impatient. But he won't get into it.

"Everyone keeps asking, ‘What did you do?’” he said. "There is no way I'm going to give an answer. It's the same if you ask Novak. If you ask him, what did he do to bother you, he will say nothing."

(This theory was tested when Djokovic was asked to what extent it was an off-day, and to what extent Simon had put him off his game. Predictably, he was noncommittal.)

"I believe he knows," Simon nodded. "But he will say nothing. And he will try next time to [beat] me, two and one, to prove, 'Ah, you see, I just played bad and that [was] it.'"

Whatever really happened, the match Down Under caused a sensation. It had been a long time since anyone had gone five sets with Djokovic, especially a rank-and-file player lacking a big game. The fourth-round meeting was seen beforehand as a bit of a gimme for the No. 1-ranked player.

But Simon played up his chances, and he’s since revealed that questions he was asked by the press before the match affected him.

"I talked too much before the match," he confesses. "Everyone was saying, 'OK, you play Novak. Do you still want to go on court?' I was saying, ‘If I thought I had no chance to win, I would just not go on court. If I can play what I want to play, I can bother him. And just remember that I say that.’

"So when I proved it on the court, everyone said, ‘Oh yes, finally, you told us you had something.’"

The match also caught the attention of other players, with Simon playing the opposite of the big-hitting, offensive tennis usually required against Djokovic.

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Tomas Berdych still sees a "full attack" as the way. Asked about Simon's approach, he rhetorically asked what had happened in the match, and dubiously added, "You can try it, but..."

Kei Nishikori, one of the best movers on tour, said playing Djokovic requires a combination of being patient and being offensive. Considering the Simon match, though, he agreed, "Yeah, I think we might have to learn something from that match too."

Simon wasn't overly impressed with himself. He noted that, ultimately, he lost to Djokovic, and believes he only played well in the third and fourth rounds.

"It was good for three days,” he said. “That's the part that everyone is seeing.”

He also wasn't surprised when he didn't play well in the tournaments following the match, despite all the sudden expectations.

"I was in Montpellier,” he recalls. "Everyone was saying, 'Ah, you play five sets with Novak.' It was like I was No. 2 in the world."

The 31-year-old is sharp, observant and has plenty of opinions, which he’s more than willing to share. It might not always make him popular, but it does make him interesting.

His game, on the other hand, is a long-drawn affair requiring plenty of mental and physical endurance. Each point, each game, each set—they’re all extended to their maximum on Simon's lean legs and agile tactics.

"If I wanted to play really aggressive, trying to catch every single ball [and] big shot and following it to the net, it will take me more energy than just staying two meters behind my baseline and [moving] right, left," he said. "Just for people that are watching, they say, ‘Ah, he's running, it must be tough.’ But for me, running is nothing."

And even though he isn't serving big or unleashing huge weapons, in his own way he's dictating play. When he can't play that way, he can be sent packing. When he can, though, any player can find himself trapped.

"Sometimes you look like you are passive,” he said. “That's what I did with Novak. You are extremely behind. But I am controlling the point more than him, even if he is on the line and I am far … But it's a tough concept."

And it can make him a very tough opponent.