Pospisil, Paire upset seeded Frenchmen in Shanghai

Vasek Pospisil and Benoit Paire oust favored Frenchmen on Tuesday in the Shanghai first round. Pospisil knocks out Richard Gasquet while Paire sends Gilles Simon packing.

Vasek Pospisil d. Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-4

Pospisil did not face  a single break point as he upset Gasquet in just one hour and nine minutes during first-round action at the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Tuesday. Having suffered a whole host of heartbreaking losses this summer, the 23-year-old needed a big win and he served his way to it against Gasquet. Pospisil fired 10 aces and won 25 of 28 first-serve points en route to victory.

Gasquet dropped a mere five service points in the opening set, but one poor game led to his downfall. It was all but over for the ninth-seeded Frenchman when he dropped serve in the opening game of set two. Pospisil held the rest of the way, although he had to survive a tough service game at 5-4 to get the job done. Next up for the world No. 43 is Gael Monfils, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Tatsuma Ito.

Benoit Paire d. (13) Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-3

Another French seed went down on Tuesday as Paire improved to 3-1 lifetime against his countryman. Like Pospisil, Paire made fewer than half of his first deliveries but he still managed to dominate on serve. The world No. 27 blasted 12 aces without double-faulting, won an incredible 26 of 27 first-serve points, and he saved all three of the break points he faced.

Simon captured the Metz title last month, but an abdominal strain forced him out of last week’s Tokyo event and he never looked good in this one. Shanghai’s 13th seed served at just 45 percent and fought off only one of four break points. He had a 15-40 chance to get back on serve in the eighth game of set one but could not convert. Simon’s tournament ended in unceremonious fashion with a third donation of serve at 3-5 in the second. Paire will go up against Florian Mayer for a spot in the third round.