And so the farewell turn continues. Gilles Simon, who declared the Paris Masters would be the final tournament of his 20-year professional tennis career, advanced to the last-16 of the competition on Wednesday night with a three-set victory over the ninth seed Taylor Fritz.
It took the 37-year-old Frenchman three hours and six minutes to dispatch the American 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
"You helped me a lot," beamed Simon as he saluted a packed centre court crowd at the Accor Arena in Bercy, south-east Paris.
"When I felt OK, I knew I would have to run for the ball and even when I felt terrible I knew I'd have to go for it as it was potentially my last match."
The partisans cheered the homage.
And yet it was a tie that Fritz appeared to have within his purview.
Chance
In the opening set, the 25-year-old fashioned two set points when Simon was serving to come back to 5-5. But he squandered both.
The veteran then claimed Fritz's service to wrapp up the first set 7-5 after 61 minutes.
Simon broke early in the second set but was immediately reeled in.
He had three more chances to at 5-5 but Fritz dug in and held to lead 6-5.
Unlike in the first set, Fritz exploited his set point to level the match at one set apiece after two hours and 10 minutes.
A tense decider turned in the ninth game in favour of the local hero.
Delight
To raucous cheers, Simon stepped up to serve for a place in the third round and another chance to prolong his swan song. He did not disappoint.
Eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime awaits.
Elsewhere, top seed Carlos Alcaraz dispatched Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4, 6-4 and fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas also advanced to the last-16 in straight sets at the expense of the Briton Daniel Evans.
The former world number one Daniil Medvedev went down in three sets to Alex de Minaur.
The Australian won 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 to set up a meeting with the 16th seed Frances Tiafoe.
