Benoît Paire and anti-Covid measures do not mix.
-
CHRISTOPHE SAIDI / SIPA
Benoît Paire has won only one match in 2021 in a circuit under the bell that weighs down his morale.
The Frenchman expresses his discomfort through balanced matches and controversial statements, to the point of annoying observers.
Pair does not intend to take a break, however, and will be present in Monte-Carlo, for the first Masters 1000 on clay of the season.
“Resumption of sport after five weeks off.
Nobody trolls Benoît Paire better than Benoît Paire himself.
Back on his land after having sold off an American tour which had however started with a victory against Jarry in Cordoba - his only success in 2021 - the Frenchman continues to entertain his followers as if nothing had happened.
A few days earlier, after his elimination in the first round in Miami, he was filming himself, magic candle in his mouth, in the process of ambience like never before.
With a message for his detractors: “stop talking, it's useless”.
The day before, his great friend Marion Bartoli suggested in a debate on the Tennis Majors site to sanction the 33rd player in the world, urging the ATP to “take responsibility” in front of the lack of motivation displayed by Paire on the ground and behind the microphones.
In fact, the hipster of the circuit has already been fined 5,500 euros and formulated a letter of apology to the ethics committee of the FFT after his "Grand Slam" - in Buenos Aires, where he had completely pulled out for a banal story of trace misinterpreted by the referee against the anonymous Francisco Cerundolo.
A ballet of insults that ended with a beautiful scuttling on match point and a tweet in the form of an uncontrolled skidding.
“Ultimately, it's worth sucking,” he posted above a screenshot of his tournament winnings, sprinkled with middle finger emojis and kisses.
Money, money, money
It is often a question of money with the Frenchman at the moment, who does not lose much to lose, as he explained to L'Equipe.
after having offered almost no resistance to Tsitsipas, in Acapulco.
“I arrive, I take some money and I go to the next tournament: I do my job.
There, if you win an ATP 250, you only pocket $ 30,000.
Me, with bye (first-round exemptions), I took 10,000 each time losing straight.
Why tear yourself away like crazy to earn barely more?
"
It says - Twitter
If his remark has the merit of highlighting a malfunction of the Covid version circuit, it does not go well with the most prestigious followers of the circuit.
Before Bartoli, Andy Roddick was the first to make headlight calls to ATP on Twitter.
“A precedent has been set for fining people who tank.
His own words are an admission of a lack of intentional effort.
This is generally how 'tanking' is defined ”.
Once is not customary, the person concerned will respond with irony in remarks relayed by
L'Equipe
.
"Hang me up?
Because I don't have the right to be here?
I do my maximum, sometimes my maximum is not very high… ”“ It's more than that.
It is nothing, comments for
20 Minutes
the former DTN Arnaud Di Pasquale.
It is not very fair of him.
You have to have a little honesty.
"
On the side of the federation, the new boss Gilles Moretton took care of passing a soap by phone to Benoît Paire ("you imagine what I could say to him") but does not intend to go further than the reminder to the order of the ethics committee.
He also relies on the authority of world tennis.
By way of comparison, this had forced Nick Kyrgios to consult a psychologist in 2016 to treat his discomfort.
Because that's what we're talking about.
“Benoît is not doing well, but we know that deep down he's a good guy, worries Di Pasquale.
The first thing that comes to mind is to reach out to him.
We feel that there is a kind of distress, even if it is not expressed that way.
Is it out of modesty, or out of provocation?
In any case, he does not reveal his true feelings.
We see a lot of suffering on the ground and indeed outside.
".
"A guy who does 9-18h tennis version"
To wonder if soon to be 32 years old, we are not losing the wolf, barricaded behind a caricature of himself which bristles the haters as much as it enchants its aficionados.
Except that running gag has never looked so much like the joke too many (see “the chaaaaaaatte” transposed into an advertising spot for an obscure lottery app).
We will not go so far as to accuse his fanbase of harming the guy, but we can still wonder if she is doing him a service by encouraging him in his fall.
The now famous French Federation of Lose, unofficial ambassador of the "Pairistas":
"Did we spawn him?"
Maybe… He had 2-3 interactions during 'Stanpairo' [Instagram lives with his mate Stan Wawrinka during lockdown] where he said the FFL made him laugh.
But what are we talking about?
From a guy who does a 9-18h world version of tennis.
If he did that with a normal job, we wouldn't say anything.
Ok, tanking matches is not phew.
But there are more serious on the circuit, like players who question the vaccine against the Covid and to them, they are not told anything.
"
The obstinate
There are many flashes of lucidity in the ocean of provocations to explain the sinking of Benoît Paire.
The people of Avignon miss the world before, who cannot find their place in this sanitary bubble circuit made up and back between the tennis courts and the hotel.
“I know, you're going to say, 'You don't realize how lucky you are blah-blah-blah,' he warned on Instagram.
But playing in stadiums behind closed doors, without any atmosphere, that's not why I play tennis.
"We can not take away the right to be unhappy", abounds Di Pasquale.
The funny line technology is formal: it's very funny - Benoît Paire
So why not hit pause when you've already amassed $ 8 million in career earnings?
Gilles Simon took advantage of the freeze in the ATP ranking, recently extended until the week of August 9 to stop on the side of the road to “protect himself mentally” and Gaël Monfils has not taken part in any tournament since his Australian Open tears.
“Cutting a moment is a good idea for players of this profile,” says Stéphanie Sagaspe, performance coach and mental trainer specializing in tennis.
Why not cut a week, a month, to ask the right questions: where do I want to go, what do I still want to do in tennis, how can I still have fun?
It has to be a constructive break.
“For reasons that escape us, it is not currently on the program, since Benoît Paire has made an appointment for the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo (April 10-18).
We still hope to find a better version of the player.
Either way here, even eliminated in the first round, he won't find a place to party.
Sport
In deep depression, Benoît Paire finds the ATP circuit "sad, boring and ridiculous"
Sport
Nicolas Escudé, new DTN, wants to reconnect with "French tennis"
Sport
Tennis
Benoit pair
ATP