Benoit Paire bounces over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez to enter quarters – Serbia Open 2012
French star, Benoit Paire, hit back to outmuscle the Spanish contestant, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, in a three-set nail-biter at the Serbia Open 2012 on Thursday. He summed up a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 success against the Spanish veteran to power into the final eight at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event held in Belgrade.
Paire made a sloppy start and gifted away the opening set. However, he made a stunning comeback and tumbled over the Spaniard in two hours and 24 minutes. As a result, the French contender booked a spot in the quarter-finals at this red clay court tournament.
The La Roda native thundered into the SRPC Milan Gale Muskatirovic and drew the first blood in the opening game to take the initial lead. Garcia-Lopez then plucked his entire serves after dusting away the lone breakpoint he faced and bagged the opener by winning six games to four.
Ranked 96th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Paire re-focused his strategy in the proceeding set and held his opening serve with poise. He continued swiping in his successive serves until he got broken down in the ninth game. However, the French unleashed his true colours after that and stroke out the last three games in a row, consequently sealing the equaliser with a 7-5 win.
The enthusiastic French kept momentum rolling into the final set and earned the critical break in the fourth game to jump to a 4-1 lead. Apart from losing his edge in the seventh game, Paire remained calm and carved out the victory with a 7-5 score line after cashing in another break chance in the last game.
Overall, Paire committed five double faults and produced a drastic first serve share of 45 per cent in contrast with his Spanish rival’s 62 per cent. However, he clicked 36 out of 49 points on it and smashed nine aces to inch towards the prize money.
The French will next face either third seed Jarkko Nieminen or the Croatian qualifier, Antonio Veic. Paire needs to improve his defensive skills and should utilise his ace hitting abilities in order to ease past his next rival.
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