Benoit Paire came back from 2-6 0-4 down to battle past his compatriot Gael Monfils 2-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 in the all-French first round match setting up another clash against another compatriot Giles Simon tomorrow. The match between Paire and Monfils was the highlight of the Monday evening session at the Palais Omnisport in Paris Bercy, which has been re-named Accorhotel Arena after the major renovations during 2014 and 2015.
Monfils and Paire met for the first time at ATP Tour level. Paire won hs first title in Bastad before reaching two finals thjs autumn where he finished runner-up to Stan Wawrinka in Tokyo and to Ivan Dodig in the Brest Challenger but lost to Joao Sousa in the Round of 16 in Valencia. Monfils lost to David Ferrer in the Vienna semifinal in his first tournament since his first-round defeat in the US Open.
Monfils broke serve in the opening game and got a double break in the seventh game to take a 5-2 lead en route to sealing the first set in 33 minutes with an overhead smash. Monfils produced powerful groundstrokes at the start of the match and Paire made a lot of unforced errors in the first set.
Monfils broke serve in the first game of the second set as Paire made his 14th backhand error. Monfils went up a set and a double break to pull away to 6-2 4-0 in just 46 minutes after reeling off 15 points in a row.
At 0-4 Paire made a double fault but he held his serve with an ace. Paire rallied from the double break down to bring the set back on serve and took the 5-4 lead by winning five consecutive games.
Paire earned a first set point in the 12th game but hit a passing shot wide. The second set came down to the tie-break where Paire missed three more set points before forcing the second set to the third set.
As Monfils was serving at 4-all Paire broke serve in the ninth game of the third set for 5-4 before closing out with his 8th ace.
Paire could not hold back his tears after the match.
“It was really complicated. I like Gael. I respect him very much”, said an emotional Paire after the match
“At the beginning of the match I felt very sorry that I wasn’t playing well. I had a good season. I felt it was too bad I was ending the season that way, so I tried to stay in that match and I was able to turn it over. My game was bad. I was making many mistakes. I thought: Well if you get angry, people will see you haven’t improved. I stayed into the match. I started to get back little by little. He made some mistakes. I was able to play a couple of good games. I became better and I became more aggressive. I was not as tense as before”, said Paire
Monfils’match reflected the ups and downs of his 2015 season.
“I was too kind with him and I allowed him back in the match. Then he took his chances and played well. He surprised me. He started playing like he was going to let me get that match. Suddenly, he changed, so I needed to get back into it myself. He was being aggressive and succeeding well in his attacks and I had to change my game then. This match is the picture of my season which was marked by a lot of ups and downs”, said Monfils
Paire will next face his compatriot Giles Simon who won their three previous head-to-head matches.
Grigor Dimitrov cruised past Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4 6-1 setting up a second round match against marin Cilic. Dimitrov fired six aces, converted four of his six break point chances (one in the first set and three in the second) and never faced a single break point.
Dusan Lajovic from Serbia beat Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 7-5 6-3.
Great Britain’s Aljaz Bedene ousted Marcel Granollers 7-5 6-3. Leandro Mayer defeated Martin Klizan 6-4 6-3.
Alexander Dolgopolov overcame Jiri Vesely 6-3 7-6 (8-6) in 81 minutes setting up a second round match against 2012 Paris Bercy winner David Ferrer.
