Benoit Paire unleashes fury from the first serve against Fritz in Lyon
World no. 51 Benoit Paire has not been the personification of consistency, reaching just six ATP finals and winning the first title since 2015 back in April in Marrakech. Entering Lyon with an 11-12 score, Benoit will play for the second ATP title this spring, beating Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-2 in 64 minutes after a stellar performance behind the first serve, winning 33 out of 34 points and delivering three breaks to move into the seventh ATP title match. Taylor defeated Roberto Bautista Agut after an excellent performance in the quarters although he stood no chance versus the Frenchman, winning just 16 points on the return and never finding the way to solve the riddle named Paire's first serve.
The American served at 44% and that ruined his plans, dropping 40% of the points behind the usually powerful initial shot and suffering three breaks from seven chances offered to Paire. The first break of serve came in game five after a forehand return winner from Benoit who saved a break point in the next game with a perfect drop shot winner, wasting a set point on the return in game nine before closing the set with four service winners for a 6-4. Taylor sprayed a forehand error at the beginning of the second set to suffer another break, moving 5-2 up with a volley winner in game seven and sealing the deal with four winners in the next game for a commanding win and the place in the final.
Paire's first serve proved to be a lethal weapon in his arsenal, finding both depth and angels to keep the initial shot away from Taylor who barely managed to return some of those, never settling into a desired rhythm or getting the opportunity to earn more break chances. In the opening set, Paire was 18 from 18 on the first serve, blasting 14 service winners and delivering three more winners from the court with one forced error from Fritz. Nothing changed in set number two, Taylor won one point in the first game with a forehand winner but that was all we saw from him on the first serve return, allowing Benoit to land 12 service winners, two more from the court and forcing one error from Taylor after a drop shot. Overall, the Frenchman hit 26 unreturned serves in those 34 points, adding five more once the rally was on (the longest one had five shots) and drawing two errors from the American who never stood a chance once the rival's first serve would land in.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2HDKHdu
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