France's Paire to Face Gojowczyk in Metz Final

Home favourite Benoit Paire will go for his second ATP World Tour title on Sunday at the Moselle Open in Metz. The Frenchman snapped an eight-match semi-final losing streak on Saturday, beating Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1, 7-6(5).

The seventh seed struck 17 aces and saved all four break points against Basilashvili, who was looking to reach his second indoor ATP World Tour final of the season. The right-hander fell to Ryan Harrison of the U.S. in the Memphis Open final in February.

Before Saturday, Paire had lost all eight semi-finals he had played since October 2015, when he beat Kei Nishikori to reach the Tokyo final. But Paire improved to 3-0 against Basilashvili in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series to reach his fifth ATP World Tour final. Paire’s previous title was at 2015 Bastad (d. Robredo).

The 6’5” Paire will face a first-time finalist in German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk, who advanced when fifth seed and compatriot Mischa Zverev retired down 6-3, 1-0 because of the flu. Gojowczyk continues his strong second half of the season.

The 28 year old made the semi-finals at the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open in Newport. He is the sixth qualifier to advance to an ATP World Tour final this season. The last qualifier to win an ATP World Tour title was Frenchman Nicolas Mahut at 2015 ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Doubles Final Set

Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin denied Paire a chance for two Metz titles. The third seeds beat Paire and Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-4 to reach Sunday’s doubles final. They will meet New Zealand’s Artem Sitak and Dutchman Wesley Koolhof.