Benoit Paire strains past Jan-Lennard Struff in the opening round – Salzburg Indoors 2011 CH
Fifth seed in the tournament, France’s Benoit Paire had some real tough time before he finally took down the German qualifier, Jan-Lennard Struff, in the opening round encounter of the Salzburg Indoors on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old Frenchman toiled for two hours and thirty two minutes of play to wrap up the three-setter at 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(4), making a place in the round of 16 of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour
event.
Being played on the hard courts of Salzburg, Austria, the contest witnessed valiant efforts from the two players. Paire and Struff stretched each other to their limits but it was the fifth seeded Frenchman who stood focused till
the very last minute of the game to come out as the winner.
Paire took the upper hand in the contest when he bagged the opening set tie breaker but the German qualifier steadily made his way back in the game after pocketing the second set in a convincing fashion. Intense tennis was seen
in the final set, as both men fought desperately to remain alive in the competition. Paire took the better of his opponent in the last moments of the game to advance further in the tournament draw.
The fifth seed banged in 13 thudding aces but also spilled out 11 double faults in the matchup. He secured 52 out of 70 first serve points, with the German opponent pocketing the equal amount, in the game but finished on the losing
side in the end. Struff was led down by his error-ridden game play, as he coughed seven double faults on crucial moments of the game to let his opponent on the top. Nevertheless, Struff remained competitive throughout the contest and pushed the fifth seed
French to his limits before losing the match.
Struff crafted a total of 12 break opportunities in the matchup and converted five of them in the game, with Paire registering four out of 11 break points to close out the contest in his name. Not much difference was seen in the
overall stats of the match but it was just a matter of time that Paire bagged some crucial points to reach victory.
Up next for Paire in the second round is the pole competitor, Jerzy Janowicz, who was successful against the local wildcard entrant, Dominic Thiem, in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, in the opening round of the Salzburg Indoors. Paire
will take on Janowicz on Thursday to battle for a berth in the quarter-final round of the tournament.
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