American wild card Noah Rubin produced one of the biggest upsets on the day on the men’s side. He defeated 17th-seeded Frenchman Benoit Paire in three tiebreak sets. The American was three of four Americans to advance on Day One at Melbourne Park. Sam Querrey was the only one who did not advance, retiring down to Dusan Lajovic after squandering a two sets to love lead.
Rubin Captures Opening Set
It was a very tight opening set which was dominated by the servers as neither man was broken on serve. Paire was the first to be challenged on his serve in the eighth game. He saved his one break point faced in the longest game of the set, 11 points. The Frenchman would then put the pressure on the young American’s serve with a break point of his own, but he could not convert as well.
Rubin was displaying a package of his big forehand, which falls into the package of what many American players have, and brilliant movement, something most American tennis players do not have. At one point, Paire played a drop shot with the teen well behind the baseline and in area of the doubles alley. All Rubin did was get to the drop shot and hit a backhand winner past Paire.
Down 4-6 in the breaker, the 17 seed was serving to stay in the set. A forehand error gave the American the first set as Show Court 6 roared as they were clearly backing the talented underdog.
Rubin Begins To Taste The Upset
Down a set, Paire began to feel the pressure exerted on him by Rubin’s powerful forehand. The 19-year-old had four break points, including a 0-40 lead in the third game but could not convert. He nearly paid for missing those chances, being forced to save three break points in his next service game.
It was actually Paire who was haunted for missing those break points as he was broken in the fifth game which Rubin then consolidated. However, Paire struck right back quickly for 4-4. In the tiebreak, it was Rubin once again who captured the set off a forehand error from the 17 seed as he took the breaker 8-6.
Rubin Earns His First Grand Slam Win
After two sets with only two breaks of serve, the third set saw four breaks of serve. Paire broke straight away to open the set but nearly gave it back when the American saw a break point in the following game. The Frenchman enjoyed his lead until the eighth game where he was broken but picked it right back up. While serving for the set, he was broken once again. Third time was the charm in the tiebreak for Rubin as he converted his third match point after Paire dumped his shot into the net, giving the American his first Grand Slam main draw win. He’ll face qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the next round.
Paire Not Too Keen On Rubin
In his post-match press conference, Benoit Paire did not speak too highly of Rubin. He went straight from the court to the press room according to Ben Rothenberg to say this, “Not a good player, but I was very bad today...Yes, he's not a very good player. I was worse than him today.”