PARIS: Benoit Paire’s 14 aces were not enough as Italian veteran Paolo Lorenzi beat the Frenchman 6-4, 7-6 (4) Monday in the first round of the Paris Masters.
Both players won more than 80 percent of their first serve points, but Lorenzi proved more clinical. He took his only chance on Paire’s serve in the first set and saved the one break point he faced in the second.
The 34-year-old Lorenzi plays 16th-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay in the second round, having lost their only previous meeting on clay at last year’s Rome Masters.
Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain downed Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-1 to record his third straight win against the Italian. He next faces fourth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada, who is still feeling the effects of an ankle injury that forced him to withdraw ahead of his China Open semifinal three weeks ago.
Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus won 6-2, 6-4 against Paul-Henri Mathieu, breaking the Frenchman’s serve four times.
Baghdatis, an Australian Open finalist 10 years ago, next plays 14th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.
American Steve Johnson had eight aces in a 6-4, 7-5 win against Guido Pella of Argentina, setting up a match against 12th-seeded Richard Gasquet of France.
Joao Sousa of Portugal saved all six chances on his serve as he beat Italian Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-4, while German Jan-Lennard Struff did not concede a single chance on his serve in a 6-1, 6-1 win against Illya Marchenko, breaking the Ukrainian’s serve five times.
Spaniard Fernando Verdasco was up 6-2, 3-2 against Robin Haase when the Dutchman retired with a left hip injury.
Verdasco next faces second-ranked Andy Murray, who will move top of the world rankings if he wins the tournament and Novak Djokovic does not reach the final.
Djokovic, whose 66 career titles include a record 30 in Masters tournaments, is chasing his fourth straight title in Paris and fifth overall.
The Serb opens against either Nicolas Almagro of Spain or Gilles Muller, who play their first-round match late on Tuesday.
Djokovic leads Almagro 4-0 and Muller 3-0 in career meetings, while Murray is 11-1 against Verdasco.
Andy Murray finally has a chance to become No. 1
By the end of the week, Andy Murray could become the top-ranked player in the world for the first time in his career.
Ever since he first reached No. 2 in the tennis rankings seven years ago, the 29-year-old Murray has been trying to catch the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. The No. 1 ranking is finally within touching distance, and he will replace Djokovic at the top if he wins the Paris Masters and Djokovic fails to reach the final.
Murray is trying not to think about it too much.
“It’s not in my control ... Even if I win all of my matches this week, I still might not get there,” Murray said Monday. “It’s in Novak’s hands.
“I don’t feel any differently now to how I did six, eight weeks ago. My goal wasn’t to finish No. 1 at the end of this year,” Murray said. “There (was) a lot stronger chance of doing it in the early part of next year, which is what I (had) targeted — rather than this week.”
Murray and Djokovic both have won seven titles this season — a career-best for Murray.
If he does reach the top, Murray would become the oldest first-time No. 1 since John Newcombe achieved it at the age of 30 in June 1974.
“I do deserve to be there,” Murray said. “(The) last four or five months I have played the best of my career.”
Murray, who lost to Djokovic in last year’s Paris Masters final, faces Fernando Verdasco in the second round. He leads the Spaniard 11-1 overall.
Murray won the Erste Bank Open in Vienna on Sunday for his third straight tournament win while Djokovic’s stellar form has dipped since winning the French Open for the first time in June.
The top-ranked Serb lost in the third round at Wimbledon to Sam Querrey and in the first round of the Olympics to Juan Martin del Potro.
After that, Stan Wawrinka rallied to beat Djokovic in the US Open final, and two weeks ago Djokovic lost in the Shanghai Masters semifinals to Spanish player Roberto Bautista Agut.
“Wimbledon was obviously a bit of a surprise,” Murray said. “Maybe one or two losses you wouldn’t expect.”
But Murray smiled when viewing Djokovic’s slump from a different perspective.
“He’s been in the final in New York, won (the Rogers Cup) and (reached) the semis of Shanghai,” he said. “He’s doing all right.”
Wawrinka, who lost to Djokovic in the Paris Masters semifinals last year, is excited about the ongoing fight for No. 1.
“I’m looking forward to see what’s going to be the result of Andy and Novak here, and in London (at the ATP finals),” Wawrinka said. “Novak just lost three matches in three tournaments. People talk. But for the rest, he always won.”
Both players won more than 80 percent of their first serve points, but Lorenzi proved more clinical. He took his only chance on Paire’s serve in the first set and saved the one break point he faced in the second.
The 34-year-old Lorenzi plays 16th-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay in the second round, having lost their only previous meeting on clay at last year’s Rome Masters.
Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain downed Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-1 to record his third straight win against the Italian. He next faces fourth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada, who is still feeling the effects of an ankle injury that forced him to withdraw ahead of his China Open semifinal three weeks ago.
Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus won 6-2, 6-4 against Paul-Henri Mathieu, breaking the Frenchman’s serve four times.
Baghdatis, an Australian Open finalist 10 years ago, next plays 14th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.
American Steve Johnson had eight aces in a 6-4, 7-5 win against Guido Pella of Argentina, setting up a match against 12th-seeded Richard Gasquet of France.
Joao Sousa of Portugal saved all six chances on his serve as he beat Italian Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-4, while German Jan-Lennard Struff did not concede a single chance on his serve in a 6-1, 6-1 win against Illya Marchenko, breaking the Ukrainian’s serve five times.
Spaniard Fernando Verdasco was up 6-2, 3-2 against Robin Haase when the Dutchman retired with a left hip injury.
Verdasco next faces second-ranked Andy Murray, who will move top of the world rankings if he wins the tournament and Novak Djokovic does not reach the final.
Djokovic, whose 66 career titles include a record 30 in Masters tournaments, is chasing his fourth straight title in Paris and fifth overall.
The Serb opens against either Nicolas Almagro of Spain or Gilles Muller, who play their first-round match late on Tuesday.
Djokovic leads Almagro 4-0 and Muller 3-0 in career meetings, while Murray is 11-1 against Verdasco.
Andy Murray finally has a chance to become No. 1
By the end of the week, Andy Murray could become the top-ranked player in the world for the first time in his career.
Ever since he first reached No. 2 in the tennis rankings seven years ago, the 29-year-old Murray has been trying to catch the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. The No. 1 ranking is finally within touching distance, and he will replace Djokovic at the top if he wins the Paris Masters and Djokovic fails to reach the final.
Murray is trying not to think about it too much.
“It’s not in my control ... Even if I win all of my matches this week, I still might not get there,” Murray said Monday. “It’s in Novak’s hands.
“I don’t feel any differently now to how I did six, eight weeks ago. My goal wasn’t to finish No. 1 at the end of this year,” Murray said. “There (was) a lot stronger chance of doing it in the early part of next year, which is what I (had) targeted — rather than this week.”
Murray and Djokovic both have won seven titles this season — a career-best for Murray.
If he does reach the top, Murray would become the oldest first-time No. 1 since John Newcombe achieved it at the age of 30 in June 1974.
“I do deserve to be there,” Murray said. “(The) last four or five months I have played the best of my career.”
Murray, who lost to Djokovic in last year’s Paris Masters final, faces Fernando Verdasco in the second round. He leads the Spaniard 11-1 overall.
Murray won the Erste Bank Open in Vienna on Sunday for his third straight tournament win while Djokovic’s stellar form has dipped since winning the French Open for the first time in June.
The top-ranked Serb lost in the third round at Wimbledon to Sam Querrey and in the first round of the Olympics to Juan Martin del Potro.
After that, Stan Wawrinka rallied to beat Djokovic in the US Open final, and two weeks ago Djokovic lost in the Shanghai Masters semifinals to Spanish player Roberto Bautista Agut.
“Wimbledon was obviously a bit of a surprise,” Murray said. “Maybe one or two losses you wouldn’t expect.”
But Murray smiled when viewing Djokovic’s slump from a different perspective.
“He’s been in the final in New York, won (the Rogers Cup) and (reached) the semis of Shanghai,” he said. “He’s doing all right.”
Wawrinka, who lost to Djokovic in the Paris Masters semifinals last year, is excited about the ongoing fight for No. 1.
“I’m looking forward to see what’s going to be the result of Andy and Novak here, and in London (at the ATP finals),” Wawrinka said. “Novak just lost three matches in three tournaments. People talk. But for the rest, he always won.”
