Nalbandian advances at 2012 Brasil Open

PanARMENIAN.Net - Argentina world No.84, David Nalbandian rolled 7-6, 6-3 over Benoit Paire at 2012 Brasil Open held at Sao Paulo, Brazil, tennistalk.com reports.

Nalbandian survived a sloppy and somewhat bizarre match, getting past Paire in one hour and 39 minutes on February 15.

The Argentine surged to a 5-1 lead and had triple set point in the seventh game only to see his opponent storm back and force a tiebreaker. Nalbandian finally righted the ship and raced through the 'breaker seven points to three.

Then it was Paire's turn to squander a lead in the second. The 98th-ranked Frenchman pulled ahead 3-1 and had a 0-40 opportunity on Nalbandian's serve. When Nalbandian saved every break point and held, it was all over for the underdog. Nalbandian ended the match on a five-game winning streak to book his spot alongside Gilles Simon in round two.