Brian Baker overcomes Benoit Paire to reach last 16 – Wimbledon Championships 2012
USA’s emerging hero, Brian Baker, continued with his amazing comeback, beating France’s 55th ranked player, Benoit Paire, in four sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the third round at the Wimbledon Championships on Saturday.
The American took two hours and 11 minutes to undo his opponent and moved to the fourth round.
Baker was once a top junior player and expected to be USA’s next Grand Slam contender after Andy Roddick but he sustained recurring injuries which halted his career.
Coming back to his latest match against the Frenchman, Baker and his opponent made a stable start, as they held their serve in the first eight games to square off the score at 4-4. The American struck in the ninth one and served
it out at 5-4.
Baker was playing solidly, breaking the Frenchman in the fifth game of the second set to go up 3-2 but Paire hit back immediately to level the proceedings at 3-3. Serving to stay in the set at 4-5, Baker succeeded in winning only
one point and went down 4-6.
After losing the second set, Baker played almost flawlessly in the third, as he allowed the Frenchman to grab only one game, breaking him three times and consolidating on all of them to seal it 6-1.
Baker continued with his winning spree, grabbing opening three games of the fourth set to attain a 3-0 lead. The right-hander maintained his advantage till the end of the contest and grabbed it 6-3.
The American said, talking to the newsmen after the match, "I'm sure I will [pinch myself]. It's been unreal. When I'm on the court I know I definitely have nerves. Closing out the match you definitely know what's on the table,
what you can accomplish. I missed a few shots at the end that I probably wouldn't miss, if it was the quarters of an [ATP] Challenger and not trying to get to the round of 16 at Wimbledon.”
He added, "It is crazy kind of what's going on. But I'm still trying to stay focused on the task at hand and not get too wrapped around.”
Baker went on say that he was hungry and going in every match to win it. The American stated that it’s awesome that he was in the round of 16 at the Wimbledon.
The American will play the world number 30, Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, in the fourth round.
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