By Tennis Now | Saturday, May 25, 2019
Benoit Paire continued his clay resurgence dismissing Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-4, 6-3, in the Lyon final to claim his second clay crown of the season.
Photo credit: Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Facebook
Benoit Paire tuned up for his home Slam with a stirring home style run.
A precise Paire stopped talented teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-4, 6-3, in the Lyon final to collect his third career title.
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Paire swept Taylor Fritz in the semifinals and Auger-Aliassime in the final without dropping a set.
"I started the season a little bit bad with some injuries... so it was not easy at the beginning," Paire said. "But I feel much better now. I feel good on court, I feel very confident. When you feel confident, you can win a lot of matches against good players."
The 51st-ranked Frenchman continued his clay resurgence claiming his second clay crown of the season following his championship in Marrakech last month where he defeated compatriots Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga before beating Pablo Andujar in the final.
Paire set the tone on serve today, stinging seven aces, dropping just five points on first serve and facing only one break point in a clean 80-minute conquest.
The 30-year-old Paire is the sixth man to win two ATP titles this season, joining Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Cristian Garin, Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The 18-year-old Auger-Aliassime is the youngest man to contest at least two ATP finals since former world No. 1 Andy Murray did it in 2005-2006.
The fourth-seeded Canadian, who was bidding to become the youngest ATP title winner since an 18-year-old Kei Nishikori won the 2008 Delray Beach crown.
Drained by successive three-set wins over Steve Johnson and top-seeded Nikoloz Basilashvili, Auger-Aliassime lacked the legs to trouble Paire today. The young Canadian saved a pair of break points in the opening game, but Paire's cumulative pressure saw him break in the third game then confirm it at 15 for 3-1.
Paire broke to open the second set then broke again in the fifth game and final game to close an impressive victory, raising his clay-court record to 11-4 this season.
In nine career Roland Garros appearances, Paire has yet to surpass the third round, but hopes to carry confidence into Paris where he will open against Marius Copil.