Fan-favorite Benoit Paire has reached the Moselle Open final. The No. 7 seed ousted Georgian tennis player Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1 7-6 (7-5). Paire has kept his perfect record against Basilashvili. Previously, the Frenchman beat Basilashvili in Montpellier in 2015, and in Shenzhen a year ago.
Paire got off to a great start, breaking Basilashvili twice to open up a 4-0 first set lead. The Georgian got on the board finally in the fifth game, but then lost two games in a row and the set, eventually. Paire needed just 16 minutes to win the opener.
Basilashvili resisted much harder to Paire in the second set. The set went into a tie-break after Basilashvili failed to convert either of his four break point tries during the set. The Georgian had 3-1 tie-break lead when Paire went on to win six points in a row and seal the win in a dominant way.
Paire hit 17 aces and won 82 percent of his first serve points on Saturday in Metz. The Frenchman converted 3-of-6 of his break point tries and saved each four of Basilashvili's break point chances. It took exactly an hour of play for the match to touch the finish line.
Gojowczyk's stunning campaign continues
Qualifier Peter Gojowczyk has continued his impressive run at the Moselle Open. Gojowczyk has clinched the Metz final after a Mischa Zverev retirement.
The German qualifier had 6-3 1-0 lead when his compatriot was forced to quit the match. The two Germans met for the first time at the ATP level this Saturday.
Both players comfortably held their serves until the seventh game. Gojowczyk broke converted his first break point to open up a 4-3 lead. One more break of serve two games later gave a 1-0 set lead to the qualifier.
Zverev then retired after Gojowczyk served to love in the opening game of the second set.
Gojowczyk hit four aced and won 94 percent of his first serve points during the match. The qualifier also converted each two of his break point chances and faced no break point chances against Zverev. The match came to an end after just 29 minutes of play.
A second or maiden ATP title?
Paire and Gojowczyk will be battling for the Metz title on Sunday. The two are set to get head-to-head just for the second time at the ATP level. Paire recently defeated Gojowczyk on the grass of Stuttgart 6-2 6-4. They also met at the Challenger event in Salzburg in 2011. Back then, Gojowczyk retired the match after falling 4-0 in the decider to the Frenchman.
Paire will be eyeing to win his second ATP title on Sunday. Meanwhile, Gojowczyk, 28, is set to play his first ever ATP final. It remains to be seen if France's Paire will make sure the Metz glory stays home.