In a sensational turnaround, the unseeded Frenchman toppled the world number six from Croatia 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a gripping semi-final encounter.
Not handing the ball to lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah to start the third day's play on a challenging Eden Gardens surface was "questionable", said the legendary Anil Kumble.
World number 12 Gilles Simon was still on course for a World Tour Finals spot after thrashing fellow Frenchman David Guez 6-1, 6-2 in the second round of the Lyon Grand Prix on Thursday.
South Africa completed a memorable 2-0 series sweep against India after off-spinner Simon Harmer claimed 6/37 to bowl the Proteas to a comprehensive 408-run victory in the second Test,
Roger Federer will open his bid for a third successive Masters Cup title, and a fifth in all, against Gilles Simon after being grouped with the Frenchman in Wednesday's draw for the $4.45 million (2.8 million pounds) tournament. The Swiss is top seed in the absence of Spain's world number one Rafael Nadal, whose withdrawal through injury allowed Simon to take his place in the season-ending event for the top eight men in the world.
Armed with a potent spin attack, taking on South Africa seems like competing against a "subcontinent team", Ten Doeschate said, admitting that they need to get better at negotiating the challenge posed by tweakers.
Simon Harmer picked up four wickets as South Africa staged an incredible fightback to shock India by 30 runs in a low-scoring first Test match.
Ravichandran Ashwin exposed India batters' lack of quality to battle ball tweakers by claiming that if legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar or past domestic heroes Amol Muzumdar, the India women's team head coach and Mithun Manhas had played against spinners on such a track, the Test would have gone to four days, unlike India's harrowing 30-run defeat against South Africa at Eden Gardens.
India, South Africa pretty close on bowling, batters will face big test in getting runs: Amla
Vice-captain Rishabh Pant said India's batters should have adapted to the challenge of playing on a tricky pitch at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Spin great Harbhajan Singh said India don't have a specialist off-spinner for Test cricket.
Daryl Mitchell becomes only the second player from New Zealand to hold the top the ICC ranking for ODI batters.
'I definitely believe the kind of form he is in, the way he is batting, it will strengthen the Indian batting line-up.'
US Open champion Stan Wawrinka was knocked out of the Shanghai Open after a third round defeat, while Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray moved into the quarters.
South African captain Temba Bavuma mixed grit with humour after his team's shock win over India in Kolkata, celebrating his hard-fought fifty and the "small hands" catch that turned the match on its head.
The series promises a fascinating duel between the two modern-day pace greats.
The French flag flew proudly in Montreal on Monday as Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils advanced to the second round of the Rogers Cup.
Massive chance for series win in India, SA better-placed with spin resources: Bavuma
Former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes said that Team India does not need to prepare turning wickets as they can bowl out their opponents with their pace line-up and having another spin-friendly wicket for the second Test against South Africa will be a "big test of their ability".
Images from Day 1 of the first Test between India and South Africa, in Kolkata, on Friday.
Gilles Simon defeated defending champion and compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 6-3 in the Metz Open final on Sunday to become the joint second most successful Frenchman of the open era with an 11th ATP Tour title.
Shubman Gill shared a picture with ace Ttennis star Rohan Bopanna on Saturday.
Kevin Anderson produced a devastating display of serving power to reach the final of the Aegon Championships with a 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 defeat of gallant Frenchman Gilles Simon at Queen's Club on Saturday.
Caroline Wozniacki upset French Open champion Maria Sharapova in a groundstroke marathon to reach the U.S. Open quarter-finals, while Gilles Simon registered the first big surprise in the men's draw.
Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden were beaten by the Italian duo of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in the men's doubles semi-finals.
Drained Medvedev pulls out of home tournament in Moscow
It took Roger Federer some effort. For more than half the match it looked like Gilles Simon, the second seed's fourth round opponent at Roland Garros and someone who had beaten the 2009 champion before, would cause an upset. the win against Simon was Federer's 900th career singles win. Rediff.com's Bikash Mohapatra lists the players from the 900 wins club.
Andy Murray cruised to his second successive Masters Series title by blasting France's Gilles Simon out of the Madrid Masters 6-4, 7-6.
Defending champions Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan were ousted from the Tata Open Maharashtra but Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan combined to shock the top seeds, keeping the Indian hopes alive, in Pune, on Thursday.
Veteran Tommy Haas backed up his upset of World No 1 Novak Djokovic with a quarter-final victory over Gilles Simon on Wednesday to advance to a semi-final against David Ferrer at the Sony Open in Miami.
Simon Doull lambasted Indian batters for their poor batting performance against spinners Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips during the second Test
Richard Gasquet won his first ATP title in more than two years when he continued his domination of Gilles Simon by swatting aside his French compatriot 6-2, 6-1 to claim the Thailand Open on Sunday.
A summary of Friday's action in the Davis Cup group stage matches.
Roger Federer's troubled season continued when he followed his crushing loss at Wimbledon with a shock defeat by Frenchman Gilles Simon at the Toronto Masters.
Gael Monfils will get the chance to give France a flying start in this weekend's Davis Cup final against Serbia after Thursday's draw paired him against world number 49 Janko Tipsarevic in the opening singles. Serbia's world number three Novak Djokovic will take on Gilles Simon in the second singles on Friday.
The BAFTAs were held at London's Royal Festival Hall on February 16.
France's Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon suffered early exits from the Cincinnati Masters on Tuesday.
World number one Rafael Nadal set up a semi-final showdown with fellow-Spaniard Fernando Verdasco after subduing France's Gilles Simon 6-2 7-5 7-5 at the Australian Open on Wednesday. Verdasco advanced to his first Grand Slam semi-final after beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 earlier in the day.
A 55-shot, marathon rally brought fans to their feet in Flushing Meadows on Friday but nearly leveled the two men who lived through it, Norwegian Casper Ruud and Russian Karen Khachanov, competing in their US Open semi-final.
Argentine Juan Martin del Potro is favourite to add his name to the banner of champions wrapped around the Ahoy Arena after beating Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-4 at the World Indoor Tournament on Saturday.
