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2/18/09 2:55 AM | Cheryl Murray
The French crowd was treated to success by its countrymen, as Julien Benneteau and Gilles Simon joined Arnaud Clement in victory.
Gilles Simon def. Grigor Dimitrov 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
Gilles Simon was looking down the barrel of a startling upset to Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov. Simon could not handle the Bulgarian’s pace in the first set. He ate two service breaks (though he dished one out as well) to go down 4-6. Dimitrov lost the plot a bit on his return game in the second set. Simon only served at 38% for the set, but still only faced a single break point. The Frenchman broke Dimitrov once early in the set to level the match at one set a piece. The Bulgarian came roaring back in the third. He secured an early break and actually served for the match at 5-3. At 30-30, Simon rocketed a passing shot for a winner to set up break point. Dimitrov did not win another game as Simon just squeaked out the win. Simon’s next opponent will be Rainer Schuettler.
Julien Benneteau def. Fabrice Santoro 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Fabrice Santoro’s last match in Marseille started out promising. The retiring Frenchman, to the delight of the crowd, weathered six aces from Benneteau and fought off three of the four break points against him to take the first set. Santoro’s return game deserted him in the second set. Benneteau’s first-serve percentage languished at 44%, but he faced no break points. A single break of Santoro’s serve sealed the set for Benneteau. Santoro continued to struggle in the deciding set. He gave up two breaks of serve and failed to capitalize on the one chance he had on his opponent’s serve. Benneteau will play the winner of George Bastl and another Frenchman, Marc Gicquel, in the next round.
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