This time, Benoît Paire didn’t give up! The Avignonnais won in five sets in 3h38 of play in the first round of the Australian Open tennis. He beat Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 7-5, pushed by a handful of boisterous French supporters.
Benoît Paire calmly but warmly greeted his opponent before giving an ecstatic cry with his arms crossed, his eyes closed, then going to greet the public. This audience that he missed so much in sanitary bubbles.
His next opponent will be the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (28th). Against Thiago Monteiro, Pair hit 30 aces and 76 winning strokes (for 72 unforced errors anyway) in a nervous match where no point exceeded four exchanges.
Benoît Paire thus won his first Grand Slam match in… 478 days and the first round of Roland Garros 2020.