What a difference a year makes.  Last year, Gilles Simon won 3 tournaments and played very solid tennis starting just before the US Open until the end of the year.  His ranking went up to the top 10 and he managed to get into the year-end Masters championships in Shanghai when an injured Rafael Nadal did not play.

2009 was not so kind to Simon.  Simon did not reach a single final this year until Bangkok.  Simon’s best surface is hard courts and indoors.  He managed to cling to a top 10 ranking all year despite indifferent results.  However, in Bangkok, Simon beat Kim, Korolev, Melzer, and Troicki.  Not exactly world-beaters, but certainly a confidence boost for the Frenchman.

The tour is in an Asian swing.  In addition to the tournament in Bangkok, there was also a tournament held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  Nikolay Davydenko won over a considerably more challenging field, beating Taylor Dent, Gael Monfils, Robin Soderling and Fernando Gonzalez along the way.

This is Davydenko’s third title.  His other titles were on clay in Hamburg and Umag.

This week, the men play in Beijing and in Tokyo.  Both events are ATP 500 events, which are one notch under the Masters 1000 events, but big enough to draw the top players in the world.  Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are playing in Beijing while Juan Martin del Potro, and the French trio of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, and Gilles Simon are playing in Tokyo.

Roger Federer and Andy Murray were expected to play in Japan, but both begged out.  Federer claimed fatigue and plans to skip the Masters 1000 event in Shanghai next week.  Murray cited his left wrist injury and chose to skip Tokyo as well.

There are two more Masters 1000 tournaments, one in Shanghai (next week) and one in Paris.  There is also the year end championships which is held in London this year.