Andy Murray Overcome Benoit Paire In Monte Carlo

 

Andy Murray battled back from the brink of defeat to complete a gritty comeback win over Benoit Paire in the third round at the Monte Carlo Masters. The world No 2 appeared to be following top-seed Novak Djokovic out of the tournament when he was broken in the deciding set, but Paire could not serve out the win and Murray eventually triumphed 2-6 7-5 7-5.

Djokovic's second-round defeat to Jiri Vesely means the second-seeded Murray is the new favourite for the title in his first clay court event of the year but the Scot struggled to contain clay-specialist Paire in the opening set and quickly fell behind in the match. Murray's plight grew even more desperate when he was broken again in the second set and he produced a typically spirited response, hitting back with two breaks of his own to level at 1-1.

Paire continued to push Murray in the third set, letting a number of break points slip away, before he finally broke for a 5-4 lead to the delight of his French fans. Facing an early exit, Murray made a determined late stand and Paire handed him a reprieve with a string of nervy returns. Murray made the most of this let-off and sealed victory to set up a clash with Milos Raonic in the quarter-finals.