Benoit Paire, his actions still a long way from matching his words

While he explained at the end of October that he wanted to climb world rankings by being more serious, Paire fell back into his old ways in Japan

Jérémy Baudu

November 9, 2022

“I’ve put myself back in the head of a professional tennis player who wants to win matches,” Benoit Paire analysed at the end of October in the mixed zone after a first-round victory at the Brest Challenger.

The Frenchman explained to journalists that he had regained his sporting clarity and was ready to make the necessary efforts to return to the highest level.

The current world No 179 also spoke about the end of the season, revealing that he would be leaving for Japan for a four-week tour of Challenger tournaments. “I need to isolate myself for a while to get back into the right frame of mind and get back on track. But Benoit Paire didn’t show a good attitude and crashed out again in the land of the rising sun in his first-round match against Australia’s Dane Sweeny.

At 3-3 in the first set, the native of Avignon lost his composure on a harmless ball that ended up in the net. The Frenchman then shouted: “Fuck you! Go fuck yourself! Fuck your mother! Your mother the whore!” before being reprimanded by the match referee.

Pendant ce temps, Benoît Paire s'amuse comme un fou au Japon. 🇲🇫pic.twitter.com/LZouhkNPPw
— Univers Tennis 🎾 (@UniversTennis) November 8, 2022

Paire: “Why did I come to Japan?”

Paire’s meltdown didn’t stop there. After also losing the next point with a backhand that was too long, the Frenchman contemplated why he was even on the court. “Come on, great! This is great! These tournaments are great. But why am I coming to Japan? Why do I come to Japan? Why am I coming to Japan? Explain to me why. You come, he (the referee) doesn’t see anything. Explain to me why.”

Despite his attitude and the loss of the first set, Benoit Paire finally managed to win the match against Dane Sweeny, ranked 168th in the world (4-6, 6-4, 7-5). But the Frenchman injured his wrist again in his second-round match against Yu Hsiou Hsu and was forced to retire. He gave more details about the injury in a post on his Instagram account, where he announced he was ending his 2022 season.

“This was definitely not my year!!! I took the risk to come to Japan knowing I had physical problems and yesterday after the game I felt a huge pain in my wrist again. I wanted to try to play but in the end the pain was too much. I still take a lot of positives from the last few weeks. When physically I am well and mentally I am motivated I feel that I can still do great things.

“I’m going to prepare myself well for the 2023 season to get back to a correct ranking and play the tournaments that make me dream! This year has taught me a lot. I can’t wait for 2023! THANK YOU for supporting me in the difficult moments, now I hope we will live only positive moments together!”