Tomas Berdych topples Benoit Paire in the first round – Rakuten Open 2012
Second seed, Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic, survived a late scare to beat the world number 52, France’s Benoit Paire, in straight sets 6-1, 7-6(6) in the opening round of the Rakuten Open.
The Czech contender needed one hour and 44 minutes to undo his opponent and book a place in the second round of this ATP World Tour 500 hard court event in Tokyo.
Berdych was unstoppable in the beginning of the contest, as he hit powerful serves and forehand shots to dismantle his opponent. The Czech clinched opening five games to race to a 5-0 lead. Paire managed to avoid a bagel by holding
his serve in the sixth and reducing the trail to 1-5. Berdych did not lose even a single point in the seventh game and closed the first set 6-1.
The Czech star banged in a single ace and 58 percent of the first serves, winning 19 of the 22 points on them. The right-hander was a bit weak on his second deliveries, as he lost 10 of the 16 points on them but balanced that by
securing seven of the 10 on the second returns.
Second set went with serve in the first four games and score got levelled at 2-2. Berdych hit a blow to Paire in the fifth and consolidated on it to take a 4-2 lead. The Czech number one could not hold, when he served for the match
in the 10th game, evening out the proceedings at 5-5. The set was taken to a tie-breaker, where Berdych grabbed a late mini-break and made the most of it to win 7-6(6).
The 27-year-old pounded four aces but also committed a couple of double faults. The 6ft 5in tall saved three of the four break points he faced and converted one of the two he received.
Berdych is a former champion here and is having a very good current season so far. He stated in the post match press conference, “I’m going match-by-match. So far I’ve had a pretty good season. I’m not counting it in general. I
had some great results that I can count towards that and I hope if I continue with my game, it will qualify me for London.”
He added, “I have nice memories here. I like coming back to Tokyo. It was one of the biggest tournaments I won in the past. It gives me positive thinking. As with any other week, I want to do well and try and play my tennis.”
The Czech player will play either Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil or Colombia’s Alejandro Falla in the second round.
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