Paire sails through Toronto Masters opener

August 07, 2018 | 10:57

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Benoit Paire reined in his fearsome temper on Monday (Aug 6) to earn a straightforward first-round win at the Toronto Masters after a costly outburst on court last week.

paire sails through toronto masters opener

File photo of France's Benoit Paire during the 2018 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on Jul 7, 2018. (AFP/Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS)

The volatile 55th-ranked Frenchman advanced over American Jared Donaldson 6-3, 6-4 to set up a showdown with top seed Rafael Nadal.

The Spaniard holds a 3-0 record in the series, last defeating Paire in the Roland Garros first round in 2017.

Paire exploded in anger last week during a first-round Washington loss to Marcos Baghdatis, destroying three racquets and earning a massive fine of US$16,500 (€14,300).

Nadal leads the draw with holder Alexander Zverev, the weekend champion in Washington, the second seed.

Roger Federer is skipping the event during the week of his 37th birthday and will return next week in Cincinnati at his only scheduled tune-up event prior to the US Open.

Canadian Peter Polansky reached the second round for a third straight year, defeating Australian Matt Ebden 7-6 (7/3), 6-4.

As in 2017, when he ran into Federer after winning his home opener, the world number 121 will again face a Grand Slam champion, taking on 2014 US Open winner Marin Cilic, seeded sixth.

Belarusian qualifier Ilya Ivashka extended his run of weekend success as he beat Japan's Yuichi Sugita 6-2, 6-3.

The top eight seeds have byes into the second round.

AFP

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