'It has become rotten' - Benoit Paire vents frustration again after Monte-Carlo Masters defeat
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Updated 11/04/2021 at 20:47 GMT
"The circuit has become rotten. Winning or losing in such conditions, I don't care. I no longer have the spark." Benoit Paire is not happy with the situation on tour at the moment with no fans attending tournaments and players having to spend time in bubbles. He made his frustrations clear again after losing at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
Benoit Paire
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Benoit Paire continued to voice his unhappiness with life on the ATP Tour after losing in the first round of the Monte-Carlo Masters on Sunday.
The world No 35 has been highly critical of the state of tennis this year as tournaments continue to be played without fans and players are having to spend most of their time in bubbles.
He said last month that Covid-19 protocols have made the tour "sad, boring and ridiculous" and earning money is his main priority - "I arrive, I take some money and I go to the next tournament: I do my job”.
He again didn’t hold back after losing in three sets to Australian Jordan Thompson in Monte Carlo, his ninth defeat in 10 matches this season.
"I don't give a damn. I still have doubles to play here and after that, I clear off home," he said.
“I can say nothing on the match. Tennis doesn't make me happy anymore. To be here is an absolute sadness because it's usually the best tournament in the world.
"I don't give a damn, fight or not fight. They say it's Monte Carlo, but we are playing in a sad atmosphere. That's how it is, the circuit has become rotten. Winning or losing in such conditions, I don't care. I no longer have the spark."
"I took 12,000 euros to be in a quiet hotel, then I go home. The Rainier Court, on the shores of the Mediterranean, is normally the most beautiful court in the world, but this year it's the atmosphere of a cemetery. So the only moment of happiness is when I'm at home, when I don't put on my mask, that I don't give a damn about the Covid."
Paire also claimed he is not the only player who is unhappy with the current situation on the tour.
"Playing in a cemetery like this, it’s just not possible anymore. All the players think it. I am perhaps the only one to say it. Tennis is no longer bringing me anything good," he added.
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It has been reported that Paire narrowly avoided a sanction for his actions in Buenos Aires when he spat on the court before seemingly tanking his final service game. He then posted a video on social media of him partying following a first-round defeat to Lorenzo Musetti in Miami, having responded to criticism earlier in the month by writing on Twitter "in the end it's worth it to suck" along with a picture of his career earnings of nearly $9m.
His actions and words have been largely condemned around the tennis world.
Toni Nadal, Rafael Nadal’s former coach and now coach of Felix Auger-Aliassime, told Antena Deportes: "With his words, he is doing neither tennis nor his person any favours. He placed little value on the efforts and sacrifices of his colleagues. The truth is that he would have done better to keep certain statements and ideas to himself."
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Former Grand Slam champion Marion Bartoli has also criticised Paire, saying that he is “damaging the game with the way he behaves".
"When you have the youth and the young generation looking at that and they think it’s okay to behave like this, this is where my problem starts," she told Tennis Majors.
"So I think the ATP should have a sense of responsibility saying that we can’t display tennis that way, and therefore they should take some actions."
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