Paire Holds On To Give France Early Lead Against Serbia

Benoit Paire maintained his resolve to overcome Dusan Lajovic 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-4 in front of a boisterous Serbian crowd and give France a 1-0 lead at the ATP Cup on Monday night in Brisbane.

[VISIT ATP CUP]

Paire, a three-time ATP Tour titlist, served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but was broken. Lajovic forced a tie-break, where Paire returned to his confident play, smashing flat backhands and cutting exquisite volleys to earn two match points at 6/4.

But Lajovic won the next four points to force a deciding set, and Paire was stunned, needing consoling from teammates Gael Monfils, Nicolas Mahut and captain Gilles Simon.

[FINAL EIGHT]

Paire, though, to his credit, regrouped and attacked Lajovic's second serve and in the 10th game of the deciding set to improve to 2-0 at the inaugural 24-team event.

Gael Monfils will try to beat World No. 2 Novak Djokovic for the first time in their 15-match ATP Head2Head series and clinch the tie for the Frenchmen.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/35p9eLN