Madrid (AFP)
World No.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas left no chance for Benoît Paire (35th), beaten 6-1, 6-2 in 54 minutes in the second round of the Masters 1000 in Madrid on Wednesday, the day after his first victory in more than two months.
The day before, in a nice atmosphere animated by a small benevolent French colony, Paire had obtained his second victory of the season only, his first since the end of February, 6-4, 7-5 at the expense of Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili (31st).
Twenty-four hours later, in a much quieter stadium, the Frenchman, visibly strapped in the abdominals, hardly existed against the recent winner of the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 and finalist in Barcelona, also N.1 for the Breed, the classification established over the calendar year.
Tsitsipas was already leading 3-0 after nine minutes and only needed 23 minutes to pocket the first set, helped by his opponent's particularly rusty forehand.
Broken from the start in the second round, Paire got a little better, the time to lead 2 games to 1. But he was never really able to keep up with the Greek in the rally and then lost the last five. games of the match.
Tsitsipas ended the game with an ace.
He will face either the Norwegian Casper Ruud or the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka in the round of 16.
"What positive about this tournament", reacted Paire Wednesday night on his Instagram account.
"Small problem with the abdominals today but above all I played a great player much better than me at the moment".
If the Greek recorded his 27th victory in 2021, the record of Paire (32 years old on Saturday) is now two successes for ten defeats.
But he seems revived by these two matches in Madrid and the support he has received, for the first time in several months.
"Thank you for this incredible support, it makes me want to come back to my best and rediscover the desire to win that I missed for months! I will prepare myself well to try to make a good Roland Garros, for that we share incredible moments together! #IAmBack ", concluded the French player.
© 2021 AFP