Benoit Paire battles past Matthias Bachinger in round two – Grand Prix Hassan II 2012
French rising star, Benoit Paire, tumbled over the German contestant, Matthias Bachinger, in a three set mouth-watering match at the Grand Prix Hassan II 2012 on Wednesday. He joggled a 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2 success against the 25-year-old to charge into the
quarter-finals at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) clay court event held in Casablanca.
The French youngster showed his best tennis to outrun Bachinger in two hours and 34 minutes. The players previously met each other at the Helsinki Challenger last year and after earning this glory, Paire not only avenged his defeat but also booked a spot
in the final eight at this clay court event.
Ranked 104th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Bachinger made a strong start at the Complexe Al Amal and drew the first blood in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Despite losing his edge in the very next game, he remained
focused and plucked remaining serves to enforce a tie-breaker. The German dominated it and pocketed the opener with a 7-6(3) win.
The Frustrated Paire on the other side found his momentum in the second set and carved out the critical break in the sixth game to go 4-2 up. Regardless of losing his serve in the proceeding game, the French capitalised on another break chance in the eighth
game and subsequently clinched the equaliser with a 6-3 score line.
The 22-year-old lifted his game in the final set and after brushing off all three breakpoints he came across, Paire plucked his entire serves. He cashed in two out of three break chances and sealed the decider by winning six games to two.
All in all, Paire clobbered almost an equal first serve share of 46 per cent but impressively marked 43 out of 59 points on it. He also hammered eight aces and finished the deal with 121 points.
Up next for the French is Flavio Cipolla who shocked the second seeded wild card entrant, Alexandr Dolgopolov, with a breadstick to set-up this clash. The Ukrainian swiped in his entire serves without facing any hindrance and cashed in four out of five break
chances to jolt down a 6-4, 6-1 victory.
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