Lajovic Saves 3 MPs, Edges Paire In Buenos Aires
Dusan Lajovic snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on Monday at the Argentina Open to reach the second round in Buenos Aires.
The fifth seed overcame Frenchman Benoit Paire 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), saving three match points en route to his two-hour, four-minute victory at the ATP 250 tournament.
The Serbian, who is a two-time quarter-finalist in Buenos Aires, saved three match points at 5-4, 40/0 on Paire’s serve as he demonstrated his fighting qualities in a hard-fought encounter. Lajovic rallied from a break down three times in the decider, before finding his top level in the tie-break to triumph.
[FOLLOW ACTION]The 31-year-old now leads Paire 3-2 in their ATP Head2Head series, with this his second victory over the World No. 50 on clay (Sao Paulo 2016). Lajovic will play either clay-court specialist Pablo Cuevas or Argentine Federico Coria in the second round. The 36-year-old Cuevas is a six-time tour-level champion, with all of his titles coming on clay.
Paire, who was making his third appearance in Buenos Aires, was looking to build on his Australian Open third-round run this week in Argentina.