It was a typical Benoit Paire match in Toronto today as he eased past Jared Donaldon 6-3 6-4 to set up a tough second round meeting with Rafael Nadal.
The Frenchman is known for his on court antics and returned to the court for the first time since being fined 15,000 dollars for his on-court outrage against Marcos Baghdatis in Washington last week. This week Paire took on American Jared Donaldson, who is placed seven places lower than him in the world rankings. The controversial 29 year old got straight to work this week though as he raced out to a comfortable 4-0 lead.
However the Frenchman still had his wacky and unique moments during the match as during a serve his raquet was flung halfway down the court as you can see below:
Mondays are hard…
Aren't they @benoitpaire?#RogersCup pic.twitter.com/1JRyRSXgKT
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 6, 2018
The 29 year old also refused to play at one point as he was distracted by the on-court microphone that was on the court. Eventually once play had re-started the Frenchman wrapped up the first set with relative ease as his unique game style was too hot for Donaldson to handle. Once Paire had won the first set he felt more relaxed as he allowed Donaldson to find some rhythm in the second set.
The duo split breaks towards the end of the set as Donaldson was finding his range in the second set to force Paire into a more competitive set. However in the ninth game Paire broke in a long game and a spectacular volley sealed the match as the Frenchman survived an unexpected test.
Next up for the controversial Frenchman is the world number one, Rafael Nadal, who will be playing his first match under the new shot clock rules. It will certainly be an interesting match considering the Frenchman loves the big occasion and has the potential to beat anybody in the world.
In other results, there was a big win for hometown player Peter Polansky 7-6(3) 6-4 in 1 hour and 34 minutes. The 30 year old from Toronto survived 12 aces from Ebden to make the second round, where he will face Novak Djokovic or Hyeon Chung. There were also first round wins for Marton Fucsovics, Fernando Verdasco and Ilya Ivashka.
