Benoit Paire shocks Jarkko Nieminen to reach semis – Serbia Open 2012
French rising star, Benoit Paire, outdoes the third seed, Jarkko Nieminen, in a three-set mouth-watering match at the Serbia Open 2012 on Friday. He nudged up a 0-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory against the left-handed Finn to power into the semi-finals at the SRPC Milan Gale Muskatirovic in Belgrade, Serbia.
The 22-year-old made a drastic start at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event and was hit with the bagel in the opening set. However, he made an epic comeback carved out the victory in one hour and 38 minutes in their first duel with each other. As a result, Paire stayed on course to bid for his maiden career title.
Number one in Finland, Nieminen blasted into the opening set and stroke out the opening six games in a row. He superbly dusted away all seven breakpoints he came across and cashed in three out of four break chances to pocket the bagel.
Ranked 96th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Paire rebounded in the proceeding set and earned the desiderated break in the third game to leap to a 3-1 lead. He held his remaining serves after blocking the lone breakpoint he faced and clinched the equaliser with a 6-2 score line after breaking his opponent’s serve again in the seventh game.
The booming French kept momentum rolling in the final set and got the critical break in the opening game to jump to a 2-0 lead. He lost his edge in the fourth game and later exchanged a serve break. However, Paire got the breakthrough in the 11th game and sealed the decider by winning seven games to five.
All in all, Paire sought 15 break chances and apart from producing a lower first serve share, he impressively availed 30 out of 42 points on it. The French spilled more double faults but finished the deal with 91 points to conquer the match.
Next challenge for Paire is the top seed, Pablo Andujar, who tumbled over Czech Republic’s Lukas Rosol in straight sets to set-up this match. Andujar got the better of the world number 79 in one hour and 26 minutes.
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