French tennis player Benoit Paire played an unusual tennis match in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. He had a heated exchange with the Spanish chair umpire Nacho Forcadell, was given a point penalty, and also ‘tanked’ his final service game in his round one encounter at Argentina Open 2021.
He was playing against local favorite Francisco Cerundolo and was annoyed with the chair umpire’s decision in the second set.
At 2-0 (15*-40) in the second set, Cerundolo produced an ace, but Paire wasn’t really satisfied and emphasized that the bounce of the ball was a few millimeters out.
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However, in clay-court tennis the chair umpire’s decision is the final call, hence the point was given to Cerundolo. Unhappy with the umpire’s settlement Benoit Paire made an unprofessional move and spat court.
Following the same, the Frenchman was given a code violation and later broke his opponent serve at 2-1.
Also, a couple of games later Paire was docked a point for again spitting and arguing with umpire Forcadell.
Benoit Paire Spits on Court and Tanks a Game at Argentina Open 2021
Benoit Paire complains about a mark, spits on it, gets a code violation, then proceeds to take all the anger out on an overhead and continues to complain as he runs to the chair 😂 #abnamrowtt pic.twitter.com/tcQpj502uB
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) March 4, 2021
Paire called for the tournament supervisor, Jorge Mandl, he tried to cool the French player down, but unfortunately, it was of no use.
In the final set, Paire was losing 1-5(0*-30), and then he deliberately served two shabby double-faults to wrap up the match.
Big fine expected.
This is a terrible, terrible look for the sport. https://t.co/nfQNhCOqNQ
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) March 4, 2021
After the match, Paire posted on Twitter showing his career earnings of more than $8.5 million and following a description: “In the end it’s useful to be useless.”
For the disgrace that took place on Thursday, Benoit Paire will be paying some hefty fines.
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Finalement ça vaut le coup d’être nul 😘🖕🏻 pic.twitter.com/PbWsGQLa1A
— paire benoit (@benoitpaire) March 4, 2021
Francisco Cerundolo is Juan Manuel Cerundolo’s brother, who recently won the Cordoba Open in Argentina.
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It was his first ATP tournament and Juan Manuel was victorious in doing so, and presently he has won 100% of his matches on the men’s tour (5-0).
Up next, Francisco will face sixth-seeded Pablo Andujar from Spain in the quarter-finals of the Argentina Open.