Gilles Simon might well be one of the most overlooked players on the ATP World Tour. The Frenchman seldom seems to find his success discussed in mainstream tennis talk despite the fact that he owns 11 career titles and has not dropped outside the top 20 since April 2011.

Some physical concerns have derailed the 28-year-old at times, such as a chronic back ailment and a bout of whooping cough that forced him to withdraw from the US Open. When healthy, Simon continues to steady his course as a model of consistency. He now has recorded seven straight years with at least one title, not something that many players outside the highest level of the elite can say.

Simon could even be considered a forgotten man in his own country, through no fault of his own. He comes from a country that boasts Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and Gael Monfils, two of the more popular players on the Tour, as well as eight players who are ranked in the top 50. After defeating Tsonga in the Metz final recently, the tennis world buzzed as much from his opponent’s return from injury that week as from Simon’s title run.

In fact, he may be better known for his off-court remarks rather than on-court exploits, most notably controversial statements regarding equal pay between the ATP and WTA. Many notable players, such as Maria Sharapova, criticized what they saw as chauvinism in those statements.

Still, those off-court issues aside, successes have started to pile up for Simon between the lines. With his most recent title in Metz, he tied Guy Forget for second place among Frenchman in titles won during the Open era. Only Yannick Noah racked up more total titles (23) in his stellar career. Simon also followed up his Metz title with a solid run to the semifinals in Bangkok last week, falling to Tomas Berdych in a tough three setter where he was forced to call for the trainer due to a recurrence of back issues in the third set. 

This week, Simon holds the fifth seed at the ATP 500 event in Tokyo. The draw there is loaded with flashier, more familiar talent including Juan Martin Del Potro and Tsonga. And once again, Simon will likely not often feature in conversations over the tournament’s main title contenders.

And yet his colleagues on Tour certainly know the threat that he poses. Despite falling to Berdych in Bangkok, Simon still holds a 5-3 lifetime edge over the Czech. He also has won two of his last three matches against Tsonga, and has split his six meetings with Del Potro. Thus, he has compiled plenty of success against the top two seeds in the Rakuten Japan Open this week.

Thus, while Simon has struggled against the “Big Four” of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, and Roger Federer, he sits firmly in the tier of players that fall just under the top level. Once ranked 6th in the world, he currently holds the 14th spot.

With the likes of Del Potro, Tsonga, Milos Raonic and home hope Kei Nishikori, Simon will again be on the outside looking in this week in Japan. But rest assured, barring exacerbated back issues, he will continue to be a consistently dangerous force to deal with in Tokyo where he has set his sights firmly on his 12th ATP title.