Julien Benneteau upsets Robin Haase to reach title match – Winston-Salem Open 2011
World number 113, qualifier Julien Benneteau of France is now just one win away from claiming his first career title at the ATP World Tour as he came back from a set down to upset world number 42 Robin Haase of the Netherlands
in three sets 3-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(6) in the semi-finals at the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina on Friday. The Frenchman needed two hours and 31 minutes to overcome his opponent in a marathon match.
Haase was first to take lead as he broke the French in the second game of the opening set and won his next service game to build a 3-0 lead. Benneteau broke back in the seventh game to reduce the trail to 3-4 but he could not hold
his serve in the next game, going down 3-5. Haase served out the set in the next game, sealing it 6-3.
The Dutch carried the winning momentum into the second set, breaking Benneteau in the third game and winning his next service game to go ahead 3-1. Haase and the French won their next five service games to take the score to 5-4
in the former’s favour. The Dutchman failed to serve out the set at 5-4, losing his service game to equalise the score at 5-5. The set was taken into a tie-break and Benneteau succeeded in sealing a late mini-break with the help of a forehand winner, capitalizing
on it to win 9-7.
In a similar fashion to the first two set, it was Haase who drew the first blood as he broke the French in the fourth game and consolidated on it to build a 4-1 lead. However, after going down 2-5, Benneteau bounced back and grabbed
three consecutive games to level the score at 5-5. The Frenchman and Haase held their serve in the next two games to force a tie-break. Benneteau saved a couple of match points in the tie-break, winning it 8-6.
After the match, the French said, "At 6-5 in the tiebreaker in the third set, I said to myself, 'I cannot lose this point, I cannot lose this point. Then I said to myself, 'You have to win this point.' "
The 29-year-old added, "It's a very, very good win. I'm a bit tired right now, but I don't want to think about that. I just have to be ready for (today). It was great. There were a couple of French fans there behind me, and it
was nice. (Today) it won't be the same, which is a shame for me."
Benneteau will take on home favourite, fourth seed John Isner of USA in the final.
Tags: