Andreas Beck upsets eighth seeded Benoit Paire in first round – Orleans Challenger 2011
Eighth seeded wildcard entrant, Benoit Paire, of France squared-off against the German Andreas Beck in the first round of the Orleans Challenger Tournament, hosted in France, on Tuesday October 18th. The second meeting
between the two players ended in the straight set revenge for the German who levelled the head-to-head tally with the French. 22-year-old, Paire, won a hard fought battle that lasted for an hour and forty-two minutes with a final score of 6-4, 7-6(4).
French eighth seed was going through rough times having lost half of his last ten encounters and this was clearly reflected in the match as well. German on the other hand was relatively better as he had won seven of his last ten
matches. Crowd gathered in numbers to support their seeded player national star and help him place a berth in the second round of the tournament.
The score doesn’t do justice to the French who should have earned another chance by extending the match into the third set. It was a battle of nerves and composure; experience proved better than ranking and Beck absorbed the pressure
and by pocketing crucial points at the end of each set and pulled up an upset.
Both players were extremely good with their game play in the first set. Equally good with their first serves; both players registered an impressive 71% first serve winning rate but Beck capitalized that with 64% second serve winning
rate whereas Paire was below par in that aspect and only registered 44% second serve success rate.
The composure of the 25-year-old can be judged by the fact that he saved two of the three allotted breakpoints of his opponent and capitalized 100% in his allotted two breakpoints. The first set was won by Beck by earning 33 points
in total; difference of just five points from his competitor.
Second set was even more exciting. Paire was an inch close to the win the set before it was pushed into the a tie-breaker; he deserved to have at least earned one more chance by extending the match to the third set but precise
placement of shots and tranquil play of the German stole the set.
World No.122 won the second set by registering an impressive 67% and 63% first and second serve success rate respectively. He saved five out of six break points and won the crucial break point to enforce the tie-breaker. He won
46 points in total in the second set and sneaked the set with a minimal difference of just four points.
Andreas Beck now faces-off Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium in the second set.
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