Benoit Paire loses in 37 minutes, responds to boos with a kiss

Benoît Paire was able to achieve remarkable victories while playing his best tennis. The 35-year-old did not bring that performance to the Open Blot Rennes Challenger, losing to Jacob Fearnley 6-1, 6-0 in 37 minutes in the first round!

The crowd was not happy with the level of the former top-20 player and booed him after the last point. Paire did not seem to care, sending them kisses and giving Fearnley a friendly handshake. The Briton served at 43%, which no one noticed!

The 8th seed lost six points in his games, faced no break points and kept the pressure on the other side. The Frenchman couldn’t keep up that pace, losing 63% of the points in his games and being broken six times out of nine chances his opponent faced.

The experienced player made a forehand error in the opening game of the match, which gave him three break points.

Benoit Paire won one match against Jacob Fearnley in Rennes.

The Briton took advantage of the second, breaking it and taking the lead. Fearnley caused Paire’s error in the second game, holding on to the advantage and extending it. Benoit played his best game at 0-2, painting a forehand crosscourt winner for a hold at love, reducing the deficit before losing every game for the remainder of the clash!

Jacob closed out the fourth game with a smash winner at the net and made another push on the return in the next. The eighth seed landed a lob winner, which earned a break at 15 and a 4-1 lead. The former College tennis star took the sixth game with an ace down the T-line, forcing his rival to serve to stay in the set.

Paire again played a loose service game and was broken at 30-0 after Fearnley’s winning return, allowing his rival to decide the opening game in 19 minutes.

The higher-ranked player held at love in the first game of the second set and stole his rival’s serve at 30 a few minutes later to extend his streak and move to the top. Jacob held at 15 in the third game after Benoit’s wayward forehand and secured another break in the next game after the Frenchman’s poor drive drop shot attempt.

Jacob established another comfortable hold in the fifth game, going 5-0 up and looking for a bagel on the return. Paire squandered a game point on a double fault and lost serve after serve to make it ten games in a row, leaving Fearnley to seal the deal in no time.