SUMMARY
- Benoit Paire lost his cool as a spectator hurled abuse at him during his match.
- The spectator had to be removed, following which the match resumed.
Tennis is a grueling sport, with the players toiling hard to achieve the results they want. Unfortunately, not every person in the crowd appreciates the work they put in or the player. Altercations between players and spectators are not unheard of, but Montpellier bore witness to threats. French tennis veteran Benoit Paire was on the receiving end of the verbal blows, much to the dismay of everyone else.
Paire is currently competing at the Montpellier Open. He worked through a difficult year on the Challenger tour last year, and he is gradually finding his way back to the ATP tournaments. Benoit kicked off his campaign at the Open Sud de France in style. He locked horns with former world No. 1 Andy Murray and knocked him out in the first round itself.
It was his first tour-level win since August 2022. Paire carried the momentum into his second-round match against Harold Mayot. However, things took an unexpected turn during the match.
Benoit Paire se fait menacer en plein match par un parieur. A vomir.🤮
« Si c’est pour me dire que tu as parié, il faut que tu arrêtes de me parler quoi. […] Qu’est-ce t’as ? Quoi après le match ? Tu te prends pour qui pour me parler comme ça ? »pic.twitter.com/4lqPCxMxh3
— Tennis Legend (@TennisLegende) January 31, 2024
Montpellier is an ATP 250 event, and Benoit is slowly working his way up the rankings. His match against Mayot had barely begun when someone in the crowd started hurling unsavory words at him.
Paire did not back down, as he hit back at the spectator. He quickly realized that the person was betting, and the match officials finally had him removed from the stands.
Paire : Il est là. Il me menace. A un moment donné, il n’a pas le droit de faire ça.
L’arbitre : Oui, bah on va le sortir.
Paire : Merci.
— Tennis Legend (@TennisLegende) January 31, 2024
Benoit later described the whole incident. “He told me: ‘I’ll wait for you at the end.’ When someone told me that… I could see that he was betting and people like that have no place in a stadium,” he said (translated from French via L’Equipe France).
Since Benoit Paire and the match officials dealt with the particular spectator, the match progressed as usual. Unfortunately, Paire did not get the result he wanted.
Harold Mayot knocks out Benoit Paire
The French player could not play the way he did against Andy Murray in the first round. He started poorly, and Mayot capitalized on it completely.
Harold broke Paire, and he was trailing 3-0 before he won his first service game. It turned out to be the only game Benoit won in the first set.
Benoit played the second set better, but he was no match for the wildcard Mayot. The 21-year-old easily toppled Benoit 6-1, 6-4, and is into the quarterfinals. He will play the winner of the match between Arthur Cazaux and Felix Auger-Aliassime next.
Benoit Paire has had to bow out of the Montpellier Open, and the road ahead is a difficult one. He has worked hard, and in time, he will reap the rewards.