No effort, spitting on court: ‘Bad boy’ Benoît Paire in exile from France Davis Cup team

With Nick Kyrgios playing sparingly on the tour this year, the “bad boy” tag was taken by Paire, who courted controversy with his lack of effort on the court.

Frustrated during the first half of the season with the strict biosecure bubbles, the 32-year-old Frenchman won only two of 19 matches up until the end of June and often made no attempt to conceal his tanking.

At one event, Paire openly admitted that he was only there to pick up the prize money as a first-round loser. Spitting on the court in protest at a line call at another also did not help his reputation.

As a result, despite having a ranking that was inside the entry cut, he was not considered for Olympic selection for what the French sporting authorities described as “deeply inappropriate behaviour”.

A couple of quarter-final runs at tournaments in Gstaad and Cincinnati towards the end of the summer offered hope of an upturn, but Paire finished the season with four straight defeats for a dismal win-loss record of 14-31. It is a far cry from the form he showed shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic began in early 2020, when he finished runner-up in Auckland and entered the world’s top 20.

“This year was very hard,” Paire said. “I put a lot of onus on myself after Covid. I didn’t do any practice during the lockdown, so returning to competition was hard.

“Before the outbreak, I was on a hot streak. I had reached very high levels in grand slams [he reached the last-16 at Wimbledon and the French Open in 2019], and I haven’t reached the tennis level that I had before the outbreak. This is why I have so much pressure on my shoulders.

“I’m sad, I feel frustrated. I think this is why I was so stressed, because I knew that my level of play was not up to scratch. It will be good to find it during practice sessions and to start with a clean slate in a new season to try to change the momentum.”

In what is perhaps a sad indictment of the present state of men’s tennis in France — traditionally a strong nation in the sport — Paire is still the country’s third best player at a world ranking of No.47. He has, however, been snubbed by the French Davis Cup captain Sébastien Grosjean for the upcoming finals, most likely as a result of his misdemeanours this year. Arthur Rinderknech (No.62) and Richard Gasquet (No.74) are the two singles players as it stands.

“I would like to play,” Paire said. “I think I have the right level, I have the skills to be part of the team, I think I could have an added value. I would like to play loose, to enjoy myself playing in a team and not only individually for myself. I think I have some experience and I have qualities. But it’s Sebastien who decides, not me.”

Barring a late Davis Cup call-up, Paire will next appear on a court in Australia ahead of the first Grand Slam tournament of the new season. He is relieved that there are no quarantine requirements for those who are vaccinated and is able to offer his full commitment at this stage, while the likes of Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev hold back on a decision.

“Those that are not vaccinated, I don’t care about them,” Paire said. “If they don’t play, all the better for me.

“I don’t care about the other players. I’m motivated to have a great season next year. If there are some people who are reluctant to get vaccinated, then they should stay in Europe. It’s not my problem. You have to be vaccinated to go to Australia. I am vaccinated and I’m looking forward to playing there.”

- The Times