Benoît Paire (161st in the world) won the right to join the final draw of the Masters 1000 on clay in Madrid, beating Tuesday in the second qualifying round the Japanese Kaichi Uchida (150th) 3-6, 6-3, 6- 4, in two hours.
Led 3-0 in the deciding set, Paire has lined up six games in a row. It is only the second time this season that he has entered the final draw of an ATP main circuit tournament after the Masters 1000 in Miami last month, where he was eliminated in the first round by Japanese Yosuke Watanuki.
In the first round of qualifying on Monday, the Avignonnais, who will be 34 on May 8, had already had to overcome the loss of the first set before beating the Italian Francesco Passaro (120th) 3-6, 7-6 (7/4 ), 6-2.
