Masters Cincinnati – Benoit Paire relishes and explains his revival: “I am becoming a tennis player again”

Relieved to find a level he had lost for more than a year and the start of the Covid-19 crisis, Benoit Paire confirmed that the restrictions lifted around the tournaments allowed him to express himself again. “I have always said that as long as the conditions are complicated, I will not be 100% in my head and in my tennis. There, I manage to find good feelings “ he explains.

A renewed motivation

In front of the public in Cincinnati, and sometimes jostled by an opponent who remained on a semi-final at Wimbledon, Benoit Paire hung on. “Atmospheres like that motivate me and push me to surpass myself. Even when it’s difficult, I manage to hang on, which I cannot do when there is no one in the stadium “.

Returning also to the criticisms that his behavior had given rise to in recent months, the Avignon resident was keen to respond and tried to explain, once again, his actions: “I heard it a lot, that I was no longer a tennis player: ‘Benoît Paire here, Benoît Paire there, Benoît Paire is a mountebank.’ Now that tennis is back to normal, I manage to beat a top 10, so tennis is here. My legs are there when they need to be and the head follows. I did what I could during that time and there I became a 100% tennis player again and ready to beat the best.“

Dr. Benoit and Mister Paire. Two facets highlighted in recent months by the Frenchman. Hopefully the dark side of the Tricolore, which in particular led him to be sidelined by the FFT for the Tokyo Olympics, once and for all evaporated at the same time as the health restrictions.