Benoit Paire reacts sarcastically after a shocking 37-minute loss to World No. 165 in 1R of ATP Challenger event on home soil

Following a shocking 37-minute loss in the first round of the 2024 Open de Rennes on the ATP Challenger Tour against Britain's Jacob Fearnley, Benoit Paire reacted sarcastically to his performance. The Frenchman's struggling form resulted in his defeat in the match, where he could only garner 21 points and lost to the World No. 165 by 6-1, 6-0.

The clash between Paire and Fearnley ended with a double fault on match point by the 35-year-old. Following what the crowd deemed a dismal performance, they reacted by booing Paire, who sarcastically blew kisses in their direction before exchanging handshakes with the Brit.

After the match, Paire poked fun at himself by posting a string of laughing emojis on his X (formerly Twitter) account:

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Benoit Paire's 37-minute loss may have been brief, but it isn’t the shortest match in the Open Era. The shortest tennis match took place at the 2001 Heineken Open in Shanghai when Spain's Francisco Clavet defeated Jiang Shan 6-0, 6-0 in just 25 minutes during the first round.

The duration of Paire and Fearnley’s clash also brings back memories of another similarly short match, when Jarkko Nieminen defeated Bernard Tomic 6-0, 6-1 in 28 minutes at the 2014 Miami Open.

A sneak peek at the best moments from Benoit Paire's career

Before Benoit Paire’s recent loss of form, there were moments in his career when he was in top form, including reaching a career-high ranking of No. 18 on the ATP Tour. There have been other major highlights from Paire’s career since he turned pro in 2007.

He has won three singles titles on the ATP Tour: the 2015 Swedish Open, where he defeated Tommy Robredo in the final; the 2019 Grand Prix Hassan II in Morocco, where he beat Pablo Andújar; and the 2019 Lyon Open, where he got the better of Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Over the course of his 17-year career, Paire was a regular at Grand Slams until 2023, when he failed to qualify for any; however, he was able to compete in the French Open through a wildcard. His best Grand Slam results include reaching the fourth round of all major tournaments except the Australian Open, where his best finish was in the third round.

At ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, Paire's standout performance came at the 2013 Italian Open, where he reached the semifinals before being knocked out by Roger Federer. Along the way, he defeated Julien Benneteau, Juan Martín del Potro, and Marcel Granollers.

Paire also had an impressive run at the 2021 Cincinnati Open, where he beat Denis Shapovalov and John Isner before losing to Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals.

About the author

Joseph is a Tennis journalist at Sportskeeda with over 4 years of experience in sports journalism. He holds a Law degree, but became a sports journalist out of his love for sports.

Joseph follows genuine pages on social media platforms, and verifies information via multiple sources to ensure accuracy in his articles. To stay up to date with the latest developments in the sport, he follows the WTA and ATP closely. His methods have helped him garner over 1.6 million views in just seven months at Sportskeeda.

He's a die-hard fan of Novak Djokovic, admiring not only his exceptional on-court skills, but also his off-court persona. For Joseph, the Serb is also the rightful recipient of the ‘GOAT’ tag and credits his achievement of 24 Grand Slam titles and reign of 422 weeks as World No.1.

The British culture and strict uniformity at the Wimbledon Championships make the event his favorite on the tennis calendar. Outside of tennis, Joseph passionately supports Manchester United and considers Lionel Messi the greatest sportsman of all time. In his leisure time, he enjoys expanding his horizons with documentaries, particularly those focusing on politics.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua