Benoit Paire stuns Pablo Andujar in the semi-final clash – Serbia Open 2012
World number 38, Pablo Andujar, had a surprising defeat at the hands of the inferior–ranked Frenchman, Benoit Paire, in the semi-final round of the Serbia Open on Saturday. The 96th ranked French formulated a 6-3, 1-6,
6-3, win over Andujar to earn a spot in the final of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event in Belgrade, Serbia.
Seeded at number one in the tournament draw, the Spanish tennis ace was anticipated as the hot favourite for winning the contest. He was stunned by an all-round brilliance from Paire, who was rated as the underdog in the match.
The unseeded Frenchman came under the lime light when he registered an upset victory over the third seed Finn contender, Jarkko Nieminen, in the second round of the tournament. He carried on with his sublime run of form to surprise the top seeded Spaniard
in a nail-biting semi-final and lead 1-0 against Andujar in the head-to-head series.
"It was a tough match. Andujar is a really good player," said Paire in his post match reviews. "For me, the first set was very good. After, I was a bit tired. But in my head, I was thinking at one-set all, I could win if I played
my best. It's my first ATP [World Tour] final. For me, it's unbelievable."
22-year-old Paire was off to a fiery start in the opening set of the match and stamped his authority early to get the upper hand. He delivered merely 55 per cent of his first serve on target but clinched 13 out of 17 points on
it to take the better of his opponent. The Frenchman converted two of his four break points to seal the first set at 6-3, getting one up in the match.
Tide turned in the very next set and the top seed Spaniard came out firing at Paire. Andujar raced through the games with commanding ease and broke the French serve twice to serve out of the set with a breadstick. Paire utterly
failed to register a single break point in the second set to fall at 1-1 with his opponent in the overall set scores.
A thrilling battle was seen in the decisive set and both men fought desperately for the berth in the final of the tournament. Andujar frittered away a vital break opportunity in the set and Paire capitalized on one out of his two
break chances to conclude his emphatic victory at 6-3, charging into the final of the Serbia Open.
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