Tennis flop Benoit Paire has managed to get off without a fine by Grand Slam authorities after fans at SW19 heckled a lackluster performance at Wimbledon that saw the Frenchman hit with a code violation by the match umpire.
Paire was trailing Argentina's Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-4, 5-0 on court two when a string of soft returns straight into the net from his opponent's serve prompted a "poor sportmanship" violation.
Returning to his seat, he demanded that umpire Mohamed Lahyani allow him to see a physio - a request that was turned down by an official losing his patience.
"I'm not going to call the physio," Lahyani said. "You have to show more sportsmanship. You have to try to do your best."
"You're wasting everybody's time," shouted out a disappointed fan from the stands.
This enraged Paire, who balked later: "I do not care about the people. I play for me and that is it."
Winning just two of his 19 matches, this has been a season to forget for the controversial character.
And it appeared that a hefty fine might have been on its way to make his 2021 even more miserable, with the rules stating: "A player shall use his best efforts to win a match when competing in a Grand Slam Tournament. Violation of this section shall subject a player to a fine up to $20,000 for each violation."
'You're wasting everybody's time,' shouts someone in the crowd during the final game of Benoit Paire's 6-3 6-4 6-0 defeat to Diego Schwartzman.
Was handed a code violation for a lack of effort...
In his post-match press conference, Paire stated that he didn't agree with the violation.
"I missed two returns into the net, like I did in the first two sets and because it’s 5-0 for him and he didn’t make any mistakes and I missed two, it’s a warning, I think 5-0 30-0 in the third set is not a good time to put a warning for this," he explained further.
"I think I tried my best in the beginning of the match. Mentally it is not easy for me since we start again. I said to the press every time with the bubble it is not for me.
"I try my best when I am in the bubble, but for me playing tennis like this is impossible. So I try my best. It’s still the same, it’s the bubble here. For me, mentally, it is tough for me."
Had it confirmed that Benoit Paire's matter has been reviewed and he will not be fined, despite receiving a code violation for a lack of effort. https://t.co/W7MLP483hg
"I [pulled] out last week from Eastbourne because mentally I was not good enough," Paire went on.
"This week I tried my best and when you try your best you will take a warning because you do not do your best effort. I disagree."
"I like the tournament," he insisted.
"When I started on the tour I said I don’t like the tournament but I really like it now. This thing I don’t like is how they treat us, like stay in [the] bubble [when] everybody is out in the city. I don’t understand."
While Paire's pleading has seen him get off without financial punishment, as reported by Metro, others haven't shared the same luck.
Stefanos Tsitsipas was hit with a $3,000 fine for coaching after losing in the first round, and Correntin Moutet must stump up $2,500 for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Radu Albot and James Duckworth were both sanctioned $2,500 for racquet abuse, while foul-mouthed Aussie Nick Kyrgios has two separate audible obscenity fines totaling $5,500 as Dan Evans must pay $3,000 for committing the same offence.
The women’s game has also seen Anastasia Pavyluchenkova and Kristina Mladenovic fall foul of the rules.
Pavlyuchenkova has a $3,000 charge to navigate, while Mladenovic's $7,500 is the biggest single fine found anywhere in the tournament and understood to relate to an off-court incident.
