Benoit Paire has come from behind to book his place in the second round of the Paris Masters courtesy of a victory in three sets over Gael Monfils.
Monfils took command of the first set from the opening game when he broke his compatriot to take an early lead. The 29-year-old then capitalised on his advantage by adding a second break, and was clinical on his serve to take the set 6-2.
Monfils raced into a 4-0 in the second set to look on the verge of victory following mistakes on the backhand of Paire, but the 26-year-old rallied to hit back twice on the serve of his compatriot to level the set and take it to a tie-breaker.
Paire raised the level of his game and managed to secure the tie-breaker 7-5 to send the match into a deciding set.
The two players battled out a close contest in the third, but at 4-4 Paire made the vital break and served out to secure the victory to send him into the second round.
Paire will face number 14 seed Gilles Simon in the next round of the tournament.
Simon Sinclair
