Tennis: in Brest, Benoît Paire gives up under a rain of whistles

While he had beaten his compatriot Corentin Moutet (6-4, 7-6) by putting himself in the crowd in Brest for his entry into the Challenger tournament, Benoît Paire had to endure whistles on Thursday in Round of 16.

Opposed to his compatriot Constant Lestienne, the Avignonnais gave up when he had dropped the first set 2-6 and had just lost his serve in the second. Trailing 0-2, he went directly to the referee to indicate that he was throwing in the towel.

Paire, who had not called the doctor during the first round, was heavily whistled by the public, surprised and inevitably disappointed. We understand it easily. Already last year, the Frenchman had withdrawn from the Breton tournament due to a back injury. The Frenchman, now 123rd in the world rankings, was visibly ill this Thursday. His health problems are in any case the business of Lestienne, opposed to Titouan Droguet for a place in the last four.