Paire, Monfils and Garcia fly the French flag at Cincinnati Masters
French bad boy tennis star Benoit Paire advanced to the last-16 at the Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday with a three-set win over the sixth seed Denis Shapovalov.
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Paire won 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 to see off a top 10 player for the first time since beating the third seed Stan Wawrinka in the second round at the Madrid Open in May 2017.
After defeating the Canadian world number 10, he will take on either the 11th seed Jannik Sinner or John Isner for a place in the last eight.
Paire, 32, who is ranked 50th in world, has provoked controversy for his poor on-court behaviour as well as his post-match outbursts.
In February at the Buenos Aires Open, he lost in three sets to Francisco Cerundolo, a player ranked more than 100 places below him.
During the tie, he spat on the court after a row with the umpire and then appeared to give-up in the final game with two nonchalant double faults.
A subsequent tweet appeared to mock the possibility of a fine with a screenshot of his multi-million dollar career earnings.
Repentance
In April he said he would not seek out trouble but was involved in a bust-up in July with an umpire at Wimbledon over his apparent lack of effort. And he was excluded from the France squad for the Tokyo Olympics.
Following his win over Shapovalov, Paire told the on-court interviewer: “I don’t know how I managed to win. I just kept on fighting … something that I haven’t been doing recently.”
Paire’s compatriot Gael Monfils advanced to the second round at the tournament - considered one of the most prestigious on the circuit after the four Grand Slam competitions - following a straight sets win over Dusan Lajovic.
Monfils swept through the first set tiebreaker claiming all seven points to pocket the first set 7-6 and then took control of the match with a break of serve at the start of the second set.
The 34-year-old waltzed through the second set 6-2 to set up a clash with the 14th seed Alex de Minaur from Australia.
However, Corentin Moutet and Ugo Humbert could not emulate their countrymen.
Moutet, who emerged from the qualifying tournament, lost his first round match in three sets to Reilly Opelka from the United States while Humbert went down in his first round match in straight sets to another American, Frances Tiafoe.
In the women’s event, Caroline Garcia overcame the former US Open champion Sloane Stephens in three sets.
2:09 a.m. ⏰
— Western & Southern Open (@CincyTennis) August 18, 2021
The 🇫🇷 upsets continue as qualifier @CaroGarcia crosses the finish line 7-6(7), 4-6, 6-4 against Sloane Stephens.#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/sGP4eFiPwj
The Frenchwoman, ranked 63 in the world, took just over two and a half hours to beat the 28-year-old American 7-6, 4-6, 6-4.
Garcia will play the two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza for a berth in the last 16.
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