Two massive shocks were the story of the day in Marseille as two of the players with the silkiest one-handed backhands in the game Stan Wawrinka, and Richard Gasquet, both fell victim to two players who prefer the two-handed option in Benoit Paire and Nick Kyrgios. Paire shocked the current French Open champion Wawrinka 6-4, 1-6, 7-5, and Krygios blasted his way past a stunned Gasquet winning 6-0, 6-4.
Benoit Paire has suffered a shockingly inconsistent start to the year, with defeats to Noah Rubin, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Ivan Dodig all suggesting a slump in form for the precociously talented Frenchman. Paire put those defeats behind him though, as he stunned top seed Stan Wawrinka in a three set thriller. Paire edged a close first set, breaking early before holding the rest of the way. A disastrous second set where the Swiss began to find his range, breaking Paire twice and dropping just four points on serve, suggested that normal service would resume. Paire uncharacteristically managed to compartmentalize the disappointment of the second set, and ensured that the third was a much tighter affair, more akin to the opening set.
The French eighth seed was rewarded with two breaks of serve. One at the beginning of the third, before Wawrinka fought back, and one deep in the third to reach the semi-finals in Marseille. Beating Wawrinka is arguably Paire’s biggest win since defeating Kei Nishikori at the US Open last year. Wawrinka may be more highly ranked than Nishikori, but given that Paire was able to defeat Nishikori in a best of five set match rather than three, might mean that that match could be rated higher on Paire’s list of scalps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diHbpIouc4Q
Paire’s night was not soured, but accompanied by another shock, as Nick Kyrgios defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet in straight sets. The fixture was already one full of history, as Kyrgios had defeated Gasquet in Wimbledon 2014, saving nine match points in the process. They would meet again the next year, with Gasquet winning a controversial match. Kyrgios was able to avenge that defeat with a stunning display, breaking Gasquet three times on the way to inflicting a bagel on the French third seed.
Gasquet improved in the second, but could find no way past Kyrgios’ incredible serving. The Australian hit seventeen aces, and dropped only one point on his first serve across the whole match.With such relentless serving from his opponent Gasquet was under pressure to stay in touch.He yielded a break though, and Kyrgios would win the match in fitting style, serving four aces to clinch a dominant victory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxkevUxB5WA
As two style players were dismissed, two others whose game relies on substance continued their progression. Marin Cilic had too much for Andrey Kuznetsov winning 6-3, 6-4 and Tomas Berdych managed to beat David Goffin 6-3, 6-4.
Benoit Paire will face Marin Cilic in the first semi-final before Nick Kyrgios takes on Tomas Berdych.
