In what promises to be an excellent final at the Winston-Salem Open, top seed Benoit Paire of France will take on Poland’s third seeded Hubert Hurkacz. Both men come into the match after impressive seasons and impressive weeks and both will surely be desperate to secure the perfect preparation for the US Open, which looms large on the horizon, by winning the title in North Carolina. But who will come out on top?
Winston-Salem Open Final
Benoit Paire vs Hubert Hurkacz
Head-to-head: first meeting
Paire, who won titles in Marrakesh and Lyon earlier this season, has had one of the finest years of his career, highlighted by runs to the fourth round at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He began his North American summer hard-court swing with a run to the quarterfinals in Washington, but he struggled to back that up in Montreal and Cincinnati, failing to advance beyond the second round at either event. In Winston-Salem, however, he has put that disappointment behind in fine style.
He opened his campaign in North Carolina with a composed 6-3 7-5 win over India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran, before rallying past his countryman, 15th seed Ugo Humbert, 3-6 7-6 6-3. He backed that win up by edging out Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 1-6 6-3 in a match badly disrupted by rain, before returning on the same day to beat Steve Johnson 1-6 6-0 6-0, finishing strongly after he had looked to be struggling physically in the first set.
Hurkacz, meanwhile, reached the last 16 in Montreal, but failed to back that up in Cincinnati, where he lost in the first round to 11th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round. But like Paire, he has recovered impressively in Winston-Salem. After beginning his Winston-Salem Open with a 4-6 6-0 6-3 comeback win over Duckhee Lee, the Pole has impressed, beating Feliciano Lopez, Frances Tiafoe and second seed Denis Shapovalov to book his place in the final.
Both Paire and Hurkacz can hit winners with relative ease when they are at their best and this seems unlikely to be a match dominated by long rallies as a result. Paire possesses the greater power, though his advantage in that regard is slight, and will surely look to use his two-handed backhand, which is amongst the best in the game, to impose himself on Hurkacz. But the 22-year-old is difficult to hit through and possesses a fine serve and an excellent forehand. That, combined with his consistency, should give him the decisive edge, though expect it to be a close contest.
Prediction: Hurkacz in 3
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
