Benoît Paire will turn 32 in less than a month.

He became number 18 in the world in 2016 and is now ranked 35. A professional since 2007, he has won only three titles in his career (Bastad, Marrakech and Lyon).

Interestingly, he landed on the circuit idolizing

Marat Safin

.

That Russian number one who left at the age of 29 because he got tired of tennis.

Simple as that.

And Paire also seems to have tired of his racket for a long time, because of the pandemic.

"If I lose, I go home. If I win, I tell myself that there are two more days and then I will lose ... Frankly, I don't give a shit," he said Sunday night, after falling in the first round of the tournament. Monte Carlo Masters against Australian

Jordan Thompson

(62) 6-4, 6-7 (3/7) and 7-6 (7/5) in three hours of an insipid match that ended at dusk.

"At least I have 12,000 euros in my pocket. They pay me

12,000 euros

to stay in a hotel and then go home," he continued with his provocative speech after the defeat.

"I am not going to say anything about the game. It is sad to be here when this is usually the best tournament in the world. They say it is Monte Carlo, but we are playing in an atmosphere of sadness rarely seen. It is like that, the circuit has rotted" , detailed the Frenchman, who could not contest the last US Open after testing positive for Covid.

A feeling that already expressed a few weeks ago, during the South American tour in March.

He said goodbye to Buenos Aires after a controversial game that closed showing his negligence against number 115 in the ranking,

Francisco Cerundolo

, as a protest for a lost point.

That same night he went to a party and even shared a video singing accompanied.

He had to apologize.

His loss to Thompson ended after an ugly double fault and 74 unforced errors.

The French has always been psychologically very affected by the health measures related to the pandemic.

And in particular with the absence of the public.

Paire has only won one game this season of the ten he has played.

It was against the Chilean

Nicolas Jarry

(633 of the ATP), in Córdoba.

Back in Monte Carlo, Paire still has not conquered his demons.

"I don't mind winning or losing under these conditions. I don't have any spark or magic anymore. For the dead rats in tennis, it sure is great to come here. It's like training. But if you've been on the circuit, if you know Monaco, when you come here and you see this, you want to jump into the sea ".

Paire still has a doubles match left with his compatriot

Adrian Mannarino

.

But his passion for tennis is long gone and he doesn't look like it's coming back.

"Even on the Rainier III track, the most beautiful in the world, the atmosphere of a cemetery is lived. Normal life is a disaster at this moment and the circuit too. Everything is a disaster," he lamented, before launching his sentence: "The only time I'm happy is when I'm at home and take off my mask. When I don't give a shit about Covid."

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