Benoit Paire is ticking off in Rome
Benoit Paire celebrated his return to the tour appropriately.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Sep 15, 2020, 01:07 pm
Week one at the US Open was all about Benoit Paire - even though the Frenchman didn't play at all. Paire had tested positive for COVID-19 before the tournament started and had to be quarantined. His colleagues, with whom he was in contact, among other things while playing cards together: Were put in a "bubble in the bubble", much to the chagrin of Kristina Mladenovic, who at first felt like a prisoner and was finally disqualified from her double game .
Meanwhile, Paire threatened to blow the "Fake Bubble" he had christened from his hotel room, but then remained silent.
At the ATP Masters tournament in Rome, Paire was back at the start, and with him the usual drama. Against local hero Jannik Sinner Paire lost 2: 6, 1: 6 - but pulled through the whole Paire program.
Paire drama: Please put away the water bottle
With a score of 2: 6, 1: 2, he served a serve, which Sinner longline returned to a winner. Paire asked for a second serve - his first was out of the question, could the referee please check the mark? But he denied that Paire had finally moved - so did not stop the rally, but tried briefly to get the sense return. No, he didn't, said Paire. "I saw it," said the referee. Then, according to Paire's borderline argument, he wanted to see the physio. Besides, he did NOT move, he explained again. Whether he wanted to talk about this or ..? Paire: "The physio." He's not here. Why that, he was hurt. Well, according to the referee, the physio was there (before), so Paire didn't want him.
At 1: 3, Paires water bottle was finally in the middle of the court, he should remove it, the referee asked patiently. "How so?" - "Because we can't play like that." So Paire pushed her forward with the bat. "Outside please." - "Outside?" - "Outside, thank you very much."
But that's not all: Paire served at 1: 4, although Sinner was still beyond his return position. Repetition. "What's the rule here? When I serve, he must be ready," argued the Frenchman. "You can't be ready after a second," countered the referee.
Who had his well-deserved end of work shortly afterwards.