Benoit Paire prevails over Lukas Rosol in the first round – Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell 2012
World number 96, Benoit Paire of France, upset 79th ranked, Lukas Rosol of Czech Republic, in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 in the opening round at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell in Spain on Monday.
Paire and Rosol began the match by winning their serve in the first six games, equalising the score at 3-3. The Frenchman made double breakthrough after that, clinching three games in a row to grab the first set 6-3.
The Avignon, France resident served exceptionally well, as he bombarded his opponent with seven aces. Paire was almost flawless, converting 10 of the 11 first and all the six second delivery points. Such was the level of his dominance
on serve that he did not give Rosol even a single opportunity to break, capitalising on two of the five of his own in the opener.
The second set saw some better competition than the first, as both players did not lose their serve in the first 11 games, taking the score to 6-5 in Paire’s favour. The Frenchman managed to snatch a break in the 12th
and sealed it 7-5.
Paire could not match his first set’s performance on serve in the second but it was still far better than his opponent’s. The Frenchman banged in three aces and 73 percent of the first deliveries, winning 19 of the 22 points on
them. He also did well on the second serves and returns, claiming five of the eight and seven of the 12 points respectively. Paire did not face any break point and converted one of the three he received in the second set.
The 6ft 5in tall needed just 57 minutes to record this win over Rosol.
The French improved his win/loss record to 8-8 in this season. He gave his best performance at the Grand Prix Hassan II last week, as he reached the last eight, losing to Italy’s Flavio Cipolla 3-6, 4-6. The 22-year-old had upset
American, Donald Young, in the first round.
Paire is drawn to face either world number 43, Albert Ramos of Spain, or German, Andreas Beck, in the second round.
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