Stan Wawrinka - Julien Benneteau. World #3 - world #41. A Grand Slam title holder - a man who had never been past the quarter finals of a Masters 1000 event. Foregone conclusion? Think again.
Benneteau struggled in the early stages, double faulting on an early break point. He was broken again after a great passing shot from Wawrinka in the sixth game. Wawrinka then served out the set in comfortable fashion.
Benneteau started the second set a lot better than he ended the first, holding serve then forcing a a break point in the second game. It was saved by Wawrinka, but a few error-strewn points later he found himself 2-0 down. From that point on he never looked back, winning nearly 80% of the remaining games.
Benneteau was clearly ecstatic about the result, stating "It's my best result in a Masters 1000”, adding that "The Masters 1000 are very, very difficult tournaments because the cut is like 40, 45. It's top 45 players in the world on every tournament at this level. You don't have a lot of opportunities to make a very big result."
'It was a strange match, for sure,'' Wawrinka said. ''Even when I was winning the first set, 6-1, I wasn't playing well. I wasn't moving well.’’ Wawrinka made a total of 40 unforced errors during the match.
Benneteau now will face David Ferrer for a place in his first Masters 1000 final.