“He should be banned from playing” – Benoit Paire gets accused of tanking and match fixing following the viral footage of him deliberately not putting efforts goes viral

Paire accused of 'match-fixing' his first-round match in Malaga by tennis fans on the internet.

“He should be banned from playing” – Benoit Paire gets accused of tanking and match fixing following the viral footage of him deliberately not putting efforts goes viral

Benoit Paire (Image via: Bola Amarela)

French tennis player Benoit Paire is currently out on the courts, playing tournaments at the ATP’s Challenger Tour. The player recently played his opening-round match at the Malaga Open in Spain yesterday. The player was pitted against eighth seed, Pedro Martinez for his Round of 32 match. Footage from the duo’s recent clash is currently making rounds on the internet as fans accuse the Frenchman of ‘match-fixing’.

Paire played his first match in Malaga yesterday, following his Round of 16 exit from the recently concluded JC Ferrero Open where he was seeded fourth. In his first-round match, Paire clashed with 8th seed and Spanish local, Pedro Martinez over two sets. Martinez ousted his opponent with ease, scoring a 6-0, 4-2 victory over the 34-year-old.

YouTube video

Just a few hours following Paire and Martinez’s recent clash, footage of their match emerged on the Internet. The video clip currently making rounds on the Internet shows Benoit Paire taking on the Spaniard in the first set of their two-setter match. Paire can be seen putting in little to no physical effort in the game as he takes on the 8th seed. Paire finished with a score of 6-0, losing every single game to his opponent in the first set.

FS Video

Tennis fans fired shots at Paire as they accused him of ‘tanking’ the first set in his recent match. For the unaccustomed, tanking in tennis is when a player loses a game, a set, or an entire match on purpose. Tanking is an offence in tennis and a player’s lack of effort in a match can cause the player a penalty. On the social media platform X, a user stated, “Match-fixing? If not then he should be banned from playing. Totally disrespectful to every other hard work my tennis player,” addressing Paire over his recent match accusations.

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Social Media accuses Benoit Paire of match-fixing after his recent match

Benoit Paire’s lack of effort in his first-round match at the Malaga Open has drawn speculation that the match had been pre-fixed. In his opening match against Spanish tennis player, Pedro Martinez, the Frenchman lost his first set with a score of 0-6.

Benoit Paire
Benoit Paire (Image via: Match Tenis)

It is worth noting that Paire quit the match mid-way in the second set as Martinez was leading the second set with a score of 4-2. Netizens accused the player of ‘tanking’ the match as a video clip on the Internet showed the 34-year-old acting rather sluggish in the first set. Check out some of the reactions below:

Tennis fans expressed their disappointment with the player’s performance as many wished for Paire to be banned. Some users on X took on a more sarcastic approach to the situation. “Your watching Benoit Paige back in incredible form! He will come back and in top 50 in no time!” a user stated. While most tennis fans accused the French player of unfair practice in his recent game, some came to his defense as they stated he might just not be feeling like playing tennis.

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