TENNISINSIDEOUT.COM PLAYER PROFILE

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Name: Benoit Paire

Goes by: Ben (a tragic shortening of a beautiful name)

Val has named him: “My Little French Pastry”

Birthday: May 8, 1989

Country: France

Twitter: @benoitpaire
Instagram: benpaire

In a nutshell: Benoit Paire is a lovely, tall French confection that makes Val continuously sad by refusing to shave his beard and show off his exquisitely pretty face. He’s a ridiculously talented player with all-court skills, his natural grace paired with a somewhat haphazard aggressiveness that creates a truly unique playing style. He’s also set apart by his upright return stance and his hatred of grass courts. Don’t even mention the grass season to Benoit. Like EVER.

Strong on creativity and flair, he struggles with consistency and holding his temper. His languid style and crazy brain sometimes lead to uber casual shots that defy logic, either barely skimming to breathtaking success or failing spectacularly. Any player that hits a horror of a crap-out shot is often said to have “Benoited” it.

Despite the intense struggle of being Benoit on a daily basis, he has ambitions and has been working steadily to achieve lofty goals. At the end of 2011, Ben was ranked #95. At the end of 2012, he was at #47. In August of 2013, he reached a then career-high ranking of #24. Many fans worried about the cost of his impressive rise, however, as Benoit committed to a brutal schedule without giving any thought to resting his overtaxed limbs. A severe knee injury caused him a serious setback, and the young Frenchman had to work hard to climb back up to his previous success.

In January 2016, Benoit reached a new career-high of #18, but the roller coaster ride of his career barrel rolls with the ever changing phases of his mood.

Get to Know Benoit Through the Eyes of TennisInsideOut.com:

 

 

 
Don’t want to miss a single detail? Click for ALL the Tennis Inside Out posts tagged to Benoit Paire.

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Benoit was sidelined for much of 2014 with a serious knee injury. He’s slowly working his way back into form, and his Twitter entries focus a lot on Positive Thinking Via Hashtags.

Entraînement,entraînement et encore entraînement… #retour #envie #fight #ALLEZ pic.twitter.com/8Y12kq695Q

— paire benoit (@benoitpaire) January 27, 2015

The French player frequently posts pics of the insane amount of food he devours…and most of it is the kind of fare that would make a sports nutritionist faint dead away.

The French really, really, really don’t get fat. @benoitpaire & his foodpic.twitter.com/TgeZwwVLQw — Jess Stein (@jessica4stein) February 25, 2015

He also graciously posts even more pics that show his diet has’t hurt his physique so far…

Prêt pour la petite sieste… pic.twitter.com/QHv7SXKXQg

— paire benoit (@benoitpaire) November 4, 2013

He’s a terrible housekeeper…

Du mal a retrouver ma clé de chambre!!!!! #bordel pic.twitter.com/2dVVLjbqCE — paire benoit (@benoitpaire) August 12, 2013

Benoit has many friends and is an affectionate soul:

HOPMAN CUP!!ALLEZ LA FRANCE!!!! #perth #bal #costume @alizecornet pic.twitter.com/x4YcAo1ehk— paire benoit (@benoitpaire) January 3, 2015

Once you get to know Benoit, you’ll realize his fondness for being on the ground…both on and off the court, before, during, and after matches.

Petite pause dans le gazon!!!! pic.twitter.com/CpYb3j4TuF — paire benoit (@benoitpaire) June 9, 2013

And finally, some awesome videos to give you a sense of the man in action:

Updated: Apr 10, 2016