HEAD racquet rebel Simon starts 2011 with Sydney title

There is confidence building for HEAD racquet rebel Gilles Simon heading into the Australian Open after the Frenchman earned the eighth title of his career with a defeat of Serb Viktor Troicki 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) to win the Medibank International in Sydney. The victory gives the No. 41 a huge shot of adrenaline before the first Grand Slam of the season.

Simon, playing with a YouTek Prestige MP, also took some slight revenge for the recent Davis Cup final, where Serbia defeated France. The Frenchman now stands 5-0 against his Serb opponent without the loss of a set. "The Davis Cup is finished now," said the winner. "It's a good memory for them and bad for us. Even if I win 6-0 6-0 tomorrow it won't change anything. I prefer to win the Davis Cup.”

"It's very good to win here. I think I need a big match win against a top player." Simon starts in Melbourne against Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan, his fellow HEAD player. Simon battled a knee injury for six months of 2010 as his one-time ranking of sixth on the ATP slipped.

"I have a very tough Open draw. I'm not seeded, so I know I will play one seed in the two first rounds."

Simon's semi-final victim in Sydney was fellow Ernests Gulbis who went down in the battle 7-6, 6-0. Troicki beat HEAD's Florian Mayer from Germany in the semis 6-4, 7-6.

In the women’s competition, 18-year old qualifier Bojana Jovanovski from Serbia reached the semi finals without losing a single set before she fell to eventual winner Na Li from China.