In an interview with Radio Monte-Carlo, Benoit Paire recounted one of the most difficult moments of his life on and off the tennis court. “When my head was in shape, I told myself I had to stop drinking too. I did a detox: not that I was an alcoholic, but I drank a lot.
I liked it, I did it too much when I was freaked out. I set no limits. All this is already paying off for him: plus I managed to lose a few kilos,” he admitted with great sincerity, not hiding the situation he had to face and highlighting how he is in a different stage of life.
The Frenchman underlined how he got help from a circuit mate to get out of this ugly circle: “Everything started in Waco on February 28 of this year. I couldn’t find the motivation. I was like: What am I doing playing Challenger tournaments in a university, in front of two people? I meditated a lot and had a very long telephone conversation with my mother.
I left for Puerto Vallarta with a completely different mindset. Nicolas Mahut can testify to it, he also helped me a lot after the first round (in Mexico) when I saved a match point.” Paire then managed to win and win the tournament, starting a rather positive performance in the following appointments.
Benoit Paire: “I drank a lot, but I wasn’t an alcoholic”
He also said: “During the COVID edition I said not too nice things. I said that the field was a cemetery, for example, but I wanted to add that it was the most beautiful tournament in the world.
Together with my agent, despite this, we decided to send a proposal to the organizers and the response touched me a lot.” Benoit will be played on Sunday 9 April for the possibility of accessing the main draw: he will challenge the Australian Alexei Popyrin on the court des Princes to confirm that he too is in a moment of confidence on the court.
