Benoit Pair makes a name for himself in sport: the Frenchman was able to triumph on the ATP Challenger Tour on Monday night (CET).
by Michael Rothschädl
last edited: 03/13/2023, 12:59 p.m
Benoit Paire has fallen behind in terms of world rankings. The Frenchman, once number 18 in the ATP world rankings and three-time title holder, can currently only be found outside the top 200 players in the world. Which, in view of the advanced age – Paire will be 34 in a few weeks – of course also makes the topic of the end of a career increasingly present for the French.
The 33-year-old doesn’t seem to have anything to do with that at the moment – quite the opposite. At the ATP Challenger event in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, the Frenchman made a name for himself from a sporting point of view last week. The world number 209, seeded number five, showed a good performance and, above all, fighting qualities and won four of the five games on the way to the title in the decisive set. In Sunday’s final, Paire also defeated Japan’s Shmizu over the full distance.
Paire with a weak start to the season
This week Paire is trying his luck in Phoenix, where the Frenchman has to go through the qualifying mills with the top-ranked Challenger. Among others, Matteo Berrettini, Jiri Lehecka and Diego Schwartzman will be at the start of the ATP Challenger 175 event, which will be held for the first time. One of a few upgraded Challenger tournaments on the ATP calendar. Benoit Paire meets the Swiss Leandro Riedi in the qualification.
At times, however, the 2023 season was not followed by success from Benoit Paire’s point of view: The Frenchman clearly missed qualifying for the Australian Open and was not able to convince in his only appearance on the ATP tour at the home event in Marseille – Paire already failed in the qualifying round. Now the button seems to have opened up for the 33-year-old.
