By Bill Scott

INDIANAPOLIS -- Gilles Simon may struggle find a way to celebrate with his visiting parents after defeating defending champion Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to win the Indianapolis Tennis Championships. 

"As most tournaments end on Sunday, everything is usually closed," joked the Frenchman whose 25th ranking is set for a rise in Monday's rankings. 

"But really, I have no time, with a flight on Monday and a match in Canada on Tuesday. I'll save the party until after I lose in Toronto." Simon will face off against a qualifier at the Toronto Masters with the winner to play Roger Federer. 

The first French player to win the Indy title will be later be able to spare a thought to how he claimed the fourth title of his career, finishing wit a remarkable run of 17 consecutive break points saved in his last three sets. 

"It's not easy to save 17 in a row, but I never want to lose my serve," said the new champion. "I don't have the best serve, and I'm always prepared to face break points. 

"Today was my best match of the week, I was approaching my best tennis today," added Simon, who faces a first-round match with a qualifier at the Toronto Masters on Tuesday with the winner of that one playing Federer. 

"This is not my favorite surface, it is so fast and I prefer to have some time at the baseline. But this is the kind of match that I wanted to play."  

Simon went one step better than Olivier Delaitre in 1993, who lost the final to South African Wayne Ferreira. 

Russian Tursunov, the third seed, had little hope against Simon‘s on-form serve. "I didn't feel any pressure to defend, there is more for Roger (Federer) after winning five Wimbledon’s and going for a sixth. 

"But I can get the jitters. When that happens my game does not function well. I have to go for my shots and that gives me little margin for error."

Simon showed his grit near the end of his second set in the final, salvaging four break chances in that game alone. He then took command, with Tursunov winning one more game before his rival served it out after 93 minutes. 

Simon denied Tursunov the chance to become only the third man after Pete Sampras (1991, 1992) and Andy Roddick (2003, 2004) to defend an Indianapolis title. 

The winner stands 26-16 this season. Tursunov finished with 32 unforced, including 20 in the opening set. 

"My goal is to reach the Top 15 by the end of the year, but need more results like that to do this," said Simon, who began the season at 30th. 

"But I need to do better at Masters Series events and Grand Slam if I'm to improve."