Benoit Paire “The Rebel” turns on style to upset Casper Ruud “The Iceman” in UTS opener in Frankfurt

Benoit Paire, aka “The Rebel“, picked up his first UTS win of 2023 as he upset world No 9 Casper Ruud, “The Iceman“, 3-1 in his opening match in Frankfurt on Friday.

The Frenchman took the first two sets but was pegged back by UTS debutant Ruud in the second but Paire then came from 12-9 down inside the last 30 seconds of the fourth quarter to win in sudden death and clinch a 14-9, 13-12, 5-19, 13-12.

“It gives me a lot of confidence and even more when you play good,” Paire said. “Sometimes you can play a top 10 player who doesn’t play at his best level.

“I think he played a good match and I played also a very very good match. I know I have the level to come back in the top 100 in the ranking and beat top players.” 

Red-hot Paire starts fast

The Rebel began smartly, firing a backhand down the line to open in style and he continued in the same vain, taking advantage, perhaps of the fact that Ruud had not played the event before.

A double-fault from the Norwegian gave The Rebel a 3-2 lead and he was never headed after that, his backhand on fire and even his forehand, which can be shaky, holding up well.

The closest Ruud got was 9-7 but when he played his next point counts for three card, it backfired as he double-faulted to leave Paire 13-7 ahead. The quarter finished 13-9 and though Ruud had a chance to win it using quarter points, Paire slapped away a forehand on the first point to finish it off 14-9.

“I’m very happy, but last time in LA, I was the same and lost the match,” Paire said. I need to change my mind and be positive. Good quarter, I’m happy.”

Ruud said he was taking his time to adjust.

“He probably played the best quarter of his life,” Ruud joked. “So it can only go down from here. No, he played really well, first time for me, so a bit of getting used to it, but I enjoyed it. I’m pretty tired, though.”

Paire snatches deciding point to double lead

The Iceman began faster in the second quarter, leaping to a 4-2 lead but Paire hit straight back, rifling a backhand down the line to level at 4-4. The forehand was just as good and at 6-6, he pulled ahead.

Again, Ruud wasted his next point x 3 card as The Rebel led 10-7. The lead was extended to 12-8 – with one outrageous inside-out backhand return winner – but Ruud was hanging in there and cut the deficit to 12-10 at the end of regular time.

Paire then showed his nerves as he lost the first two points with errors in quarter time, but the Frenchman stormed the net and put away the volley to win the quarter 13-12.

“It’s a good start,” he said. “It’s tough with the pressure, I was leading, mistake, mistake, mistake but then I got a good point at the end.”

The Iceman halves the deficit

Paire needed treatment for a cut on his right elbow before the start of the third quarter and perhaps was also feeling a little tired as Ruud raced to a 4-0 lead.

A nice serve and volley from the Frenchman put him back on track but Ruud was strong, winning six points in a row to 11-2 before Paire stopped the rot with a forehand, having played one point with a shoe undone.

The Rebel still found time for a tweener – which might put him in the running for best shot of the week – but Ruud put his foot down, slapping a massive forehand winner as he closed out normal time 18-5, winning the following point to halve the deficit.

“I just closed my eyes and hit it,” Ruud said of his big forehand. “It’s easier when you’re 17-5 or whatever it was.”

Paire snatches fourth quarter in sudden-death for victory

Paire pulled out the tweener early on in the fourth quarter and then won a cat and mouse rally at the net as he led 4-2 early on but the Norwegian went for a couple of big serves and levelled at 4-4.

The Iceman looked like he was taking control when he led 7-5 but two great backhands from The Rebel drew him level again at 7-7. At 9-8, Ruud used his next points counts for three card and for the first time, he made it count, moving ahead 12-8.

But a fault from Ruud allowed Paire back in and with 12 seconds to go, he used his next card counts x 3 and he slapped a forehand return to level, before winning the deciding point to win it 14-12 and clinch victory.

Ruud was left to rue his inability to make the best use of the next points win three card.

“There are little stress moments when you have three-point card that you can pull out anytime,” Ruud said. “It’s not always easy to know exactly when to do it, depends what the score it. So it gets more pressure on that point.

“Unfortunately I wasn’t able to use them well on this match so I didn’t won. Hopefully next match I will use the three-point card a little bit smarter.”

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