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By Giri Nathan
[vc_empty_space height="15px"]Was there a more profoundly checked-out player in tennis over the past year than Benoit Paire? Among the ones who actually showed up, week after week, no one has shown more pure dedication to the craft of losing. When the rankings froze last March due to the pandemic, the flighty Frenchman was No. 22 in the world, not far from his career high of No. 18. But when tennis rebooted that August, Benoit did not. The entertainer was at a loss with no one to entertain. From “Cincinnati” 2020 through Wimbledon 2021, he assembled a remarkable 3–23 record. He won just 14 sets in that span. He showed up to and lost first-round in 12 countries (if you’ll permit counting the Monte-Carlo Masters separately from France, which is where the courts technically lie). He retired from four of those 23 losses. Take the usual Benoit Paire tanking and tantrum fare, stir in some pandemic desperation, and the results could only ever be apocalyptic.