Benoit Paire’s Olympic campaign has ended in controversy after he was sent home by the head of the French Tennis for breaking numerous rules.
The world No.32 was informed of the decision shortly after his loss to Fabio Fognini in the second round of the Olympic tennis event on Tuesday. It is unclear as to what the Frenchman has exactly done to result in his removal. The technical director of French tennis, Arnaud Di Pasquale, has accused Paire of ‘flouting’ the rules.
“This is not the first time he has been warned. The France team, it is not an open bar. There are rules to follow. The decision was made last night (Monday),” Di Pasquale said.
“We did not see much of him in the Olympic Village.”
Di Pasquale was the one who directly asked the 27-year-old to pack his bags and leave the Olympic village. In an interview with L’equipe, he didn’t hold back in his criticism of Paire and accused him of showing ‘a lack of respect’ towards other members of the French team.
Paire has so far not directly commented on the circumstances surrounding his exit from Rio. Instead, the colourful Frenchman has remained defiant and spoke positively about his performance at the Games.
“Now I know how the Olympics are, I am happy to leave,” he told ouest-france.fr on Tuesday.
“The tournament was good preparation for me. My tennis is there again and it’s in a good place. The rest is secondary.”
Regarded by many as a big talent with a fragile mentality, Paire achieved a ranking high of 18th earlier this year. It is not the first time that he has been tainted by controversy surrounding the Rio Olympics. Shortly after his first round exit at the Roger Cup, the Frenchman honestly admitted that Rio wasn’t a goal for him.
“It is not a goal for me. I will go, but I can not say it’s a goal. I have my season and my season is more important than the Olympics.” He said in Toronto.
Throughout his career, Paire has been involved in controversies. At the 2014 Wimbledon championships he made headlines after saying the tournament ‘displeases him’. A year later he was accused of tanking during an Italian Challenger tournament in San Benedetto.
Despite his pitfalls, Paire has still achieved success on the ATP Tour by winning his maiden title at the Bastad Open last year. He has also produced wins over Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Juan Martin del Potro when they were all ranked inside the world’s top 10.
