Roger Federer will be bidding for his 23rd Masters 1000 title and second in a row when he takes the court on Sunday in Shanghai. Standing in his way is Gilles Simon.

Roger Federer and Gilles Simon will be facing each other for the seventh time in their careers when they battle for the Shanghai Rolex Masters title on Sunday.

Relative to the vast majority of Federer’s other opponents, Simon has accounted himself extremely well against the 17-time Grand Slam champion. Federer leads the head-to-head series 4-2, but one win came via retirement and two others came in five sets–at the 2011 Australian Open and 2013 French Open. Simon beat the Swiss twice in 2008; 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 at the Rogers Cup and 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the year-end championship. The two veterans have split their four previous hard-court encounters.

Both men endured disappointing 2013 campaigns, but they have suddenly…