Post-Wimbledon Success for the French

Le Chat Fabrice Santoro 

The French have a had a pretty good post-Wimbledon run, led by Gilles Simon, who captured Indianapolis and made it to the semifinals in Toronto, beating Federer in the process. Other French success: 

• Fabrice Santoro defended his title at Newport. Meanwhile, his namesake, le chat, easily conquered Big Ben.

• Alize Cornet continues to impress, winning the Gaz de France in Budapest.

• Marion Bartoli lost in the finals of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford.

• Pauline Parmentier captured a Tier III event in Austria.
  

Simon's big breakthrough should goad the other French players to, in the words of Emeril Lagasse, kick it up a notch. Tsonga and Monfils need to follow-up their Grand Slam successes (Australian final and French semi) with hard court wins.