Benoit Paire has not won a match at any level since January (Image: Getty)
Benoit Paire has been one of the biggest characters on the ATP Tour over the last few years.
The Frenchman has been fined for some of his controversial on-court antics, but he’s also enjoyed plenty of highs – winning three titles, reaching No. 18 in the world, and beating the likes of , and .
However, Paire has now fallen out of the world’s top 500 and is struggling to win matches.
Throughout the 2010s, Paire was one of the most talked-about tennis players outside of the big champions. The 35-year-old has been a divisive figure, known for his on-court outbursts.
Paire also possesses a lot of talent and has been able to lock in, beating some of the world’s best. The Frenchman stunned Djokovic at the 2018 Miami Open and beat Murray towards the end of the Brit’s career.
He reached the second week of a Major four times and lifted titles in Bastad, Marrakech and Lyon, also reaching six other finals. For years, Paire was a mainstay in the world’s top 50.
But he’s now suffered a dramatic drop down the rankings and currently sits at No. 513 in the world.
Paire has not played a main-draw ATP Tour match since July when he reached the second round in Newport, and has faced some brutal losses on the Challenger circuit in recent months.
Benoit Paire stunned Novak Djokovic at the 2018 Miami Open (Image: Getty)
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Things reached a low point in September when Paire suffered a 37-minute loss at the hands of Britain’s Jacob Fearnley at the Rennes Challenger. He was booed for his performance.
Paire has not won a match at any level since January, when he beat countryman Harold Mayot at the Quimper Challenger. Ranked outside of the top 500, Paire now relies on wildcards to compete in main-draw tour-level events. However, these could be hard to come by.
The Frenchman is most likely to receive wildcards into home tournaments and he has previously ruffled feathers at the French Tennis Federation.
In 2021, the federation barred Paire from competing at the Tokyo Olympics and said his behaviour was “totally incompatible with the Olympic spirit”. This came after he spat during the Argentina Open and made social media posts branding the tennis tour as “boring”.
But they seemed to put their bad blood to rest in 2023 when he got a French Open wildcard. This remains Paire’s last Grand Slam main draw appearance.
Since then, he has failed to qualify for any of the Majors. But the 35-year-old hasn’t been dejected by his fall from grace and is keen to keep competing. In February, he took to to share his determination and passion for competing.
“I just wanted to thank you for your kind words and encouragement every time I meet you in real life,” he wrote.
“Luckily, my messages don’t reflect reality, because otherwise, I would have quit long ago and would be on a beach with cocktails, forgetting all the hate!
“I’ve made enough money to live a good life, and the easy way out would be to give up. But I still have the desire to play the tournaments that have made me dream throughout my career.
“Even though it’s not easy every day and there’s a lot of disappointment with every defeat, I’m happy to keep making the effort, and I hope to come back!”