Benoît Paire will not wear his full beard on the Monte-Carlo tournament. The Frenchman failed to qualify for the first Masters 1000 of the clay season, defeated at the gates of the main draw. The 164th player in the world had however served twice for the match against Alexei Popyrin in the second set. The Frenchman was off to a good start against the 95th player in the world, to the point of leading 5-1 in the second set, before letting the Australian reverse the situation (2-6, 7-5 (2), 6-4).
He was one ill-fitting backhand close to getting a match point. After the game, he tried to vent his frustration as best he could. Pair posted a story on Instagram. “Calm down,” he wrote on the social network while taking a bath. In the first qualifying round, Paire dismissed his compatriot Gregoire Barrère (6-3, 6-3), 62nd in the ATP ranking. This victory confirmed the return of the Avignonnais in a more virtuous cycle.
It only remains to hope that this defeat is not synonymous with a halt in his progress. After his success against Barrere, Paire entrusted The team quitting alcohol after winning the Challenger tournament in Puerto Vallarta. ” I said to myself : quit the alcohol too. I took an alcohol cure. I try to put everything back in order to feel good, he explained. I drank a lot. I am not an alcoholic. It’s just that I loved it and partied way too often. »
The Avignonnais seemed rather satisfied with the result of his abstinence: “I said to myself: Try to deprive yourself 100% of everything, just think about tennis for a while and we will see the result. It rather paid off. OK, so rather continue on this path. »
Last July, Paire had already mentioned his alcohol consumption and a depressive passage, with the media Brut.
