Benneteau on right track

UNDERACHIEVING Frenchman Julien Benneteau showed the pedigree that could just make the ATP Malaysian Open a  memorable outing for the seventh seed this year.

Benneteau, 30, who has yet to win a title despite reaching six tour finals in his career to date, dug deep to overcome a determined Argentine Carlos Berlocq 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 in their first round encounter at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

An epic first set saw the duo exchange breaks on four occasions en route to a tie-breaker which Benneteau, ranked World No 34, was quick to stamp his mark on, racing off to a 4-1 lead before closing out the set.

Benneteau, who reached the third round of all four grand slams and reached a career-high ranking of World No 26 earlier this year, was, however, in a different class in the second set.

An early break in the second game of the set gave the 1.85m Frenchman the upper hand and subsequently went on to clinch the match after Berlocq double-faulted under pressure on match point.

The Olympic doubles bronze medallist, widely seen as one of the most gifted players on the tour who has yet to win a title, is however, not going to burden himself with the expectations of changing that in Kuala Lumpur.

"I knew Carlos would be a very tough opponent and my goal was to be aggressive and get through this match today (yesterday)," said Benneteau, who will next play Australia's Matthew Ebden.

"I made more mistakes on my serve in the first set but I played a very good tie-break and that changed the game for me as it allowed me to be more confident," added Benneteau.

"I feel the hard work and experience from the years of playing are paying off for me now. I am just going to keep trying to be better and not think too much about it (not having won a title).

"I hope to continue doing well in my next match against Matthew (Ebden). He has beaten me before and will be tough."

Meanwhile, home favourite Si Yew Ming, partnering Taiwan's Jimmy Wang, failed to progress in the doubles when they were outclassed by third seeds Alexander Peya of Austria and Brazilian Bruno Soares 6-2, 6-2 in the first round yesterday.

"Overall, I feel we did not do that badly but were a little unlucky on some of the important points," said Yew Ming.

"We might have done better if we had more time to train together and work on our communication."