The second set turned out to be a rollercoaster, marked Paire’s service game step-up. There were 11 consecutive holds before Paire had a set point out of Pouille’s errors; however, Pouille still managed to construct a backhand lob to secure his first game point before his backhand winner secured the second set tie-break several points after.
Paire started the tie-break erratically while Pouille was solid on his serve, eventually had an unreturned serve for his match point to 6-1. The tables started to turn on Paire’s serves (with some unreturned ones), add that with a volley to save one of Pouille’s match points as the key before Pouille double-faulted right at another match point. Eventually, Paire tried to bring Pouille off the balance from his serves, with an ace to secure his set point before Pouille’s backhand rush resulted in Paire taking the second set 7-6(6), bringing the match to a decider.
I DIDNT KNOW WE HAD TO FEAR BENNY BEING TRADED?!? WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME I SHOULD HAVE BEEN SCARED THIS WHOLE TIME 😭😭😭😭
i'm sorry i did not mean to scare you 😭 i am in no position to tell mr. brad what to do because i have no idea how to build a winning team with oh-so-limited cap space, if it were up to me i would go on vibes alone.
benny's current d partner is caber rn (when he's not busy getting his nose broken in one million different places) and they have been pretty much paired up all season. most people (leaf uncles on twt and ig and most of leafsblr) seem to be in agreement that mo daddy is the one in desperate need of a right dman (benny shoots left so he's like mo). we've only signed him for 1 year ($775k) so he's a free agent when the season ends. whether the leafs are going for a contract extension or looking for some trade value in him remains to be seen but i'd like to keep him personally because he is our simple stay at home dman who hits the bodies and drinks 3.8% milk and kisses caber's nose at the end of the day.
Rennes Ch R1: Jacob Fearnley [8] def. Benoit Paire 6-1, 6-0 Match Stats
📸 ATP official website
B. Paire tried his best while he was unable to catch another break due to having his sixth infiltration earlier, but J. Fearnley did what he had to do in a dominant fashion. Converting 67% of his 9 break points after keeping his range as consistently as possible, the Brit had an almost perfect first serve winning percentage with 92% even though both players scored 2 aces, while even if both double-faulted thrice, B. Paire's had more vulnerable second serves by only having a 25% winning percentage compared to J. Fearnley's 70%, mostly hitting slices on his backhand side as well as a result of his situation.
J. Fearnley went on to come back from being breadsticked in the first set to win 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 against wild card Sacha Gueymard Wayenburg in the second round, where he will face first seed and wild card Adrian Mannarino, who still tried to regain his form after defeating qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 to kick off the same round that evening. This could be an intriguing test for a rising J. Fearnley, but nothing is impossible should he remained aggressive and deep as he showcased the past 2 days. That could also headline the evening as well!