Unpredictable French player Benoit Paire slipped to an embarrassingly one-sided loss to Cameron Norrie at the US Open on Tuesday with the British winner claiming: “Maybe the heat got to him”.
Norrie eased to a 6-0, 7-6 (7/1), 6-0 victory on a sweltering and humid Court 11 where the temperature rocketed past the 30-degree mark.
Paire lost the first set in just 18 minutes and the third in 19. He was so dispirited that at 0-5 down in the third, he even packed his kit bag despite there being another game to play.
“Obviously it was really hot, and maybe towards the end of that third set he was playing really quick and trying to make the points really short, and maybe the heat was getting to him,” said seventh seed Norrie.
Paire, who sat down in a corner of the court to to take shade during a break in play, will pocket $80,000 for his 98-minute defeat.
The entire match was only 15 minutes longer than it took Carlos Alcaraz and Sebastian Baez to play just the second set of their gruelling first round clash taking place at the same time over on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Paire, now ranked 173 in the world, came into the tournament with just four wins all year.
He remains a polarising figure having been warned for not trying at Wimbledon in 2021. He was also kicked of the French team at the 2016 Olympics for flouting team rules.
“He’s a really good guy. Everyone loves him on the tour, and he’s super talented, as well,” said a diplomatic Norrie.
“Yeah, I think he has days like this, it’s tough to be consistent on the tour playing like that.”
Meanwhile, Paire told reporters post-match that he may not play tennis again this year, adding that his “demons are back”.
“It’s a turning point,” he told reporters.
“Bad start to the match. It’s a little while since I’ve hit the ball. I stopped after Cincy [Cincinnati Open].
“I took a little holiday. Now I’m going back on holiday, so it was just a little break between my holidays. I did what I could.
“I was winning 5-3, I should have been able to take the second set. it would have done me good in the head, but my demons are back again.
“The double faults and that started again, always the same. I do what I can. I’m 167 in the world (he’s 173rd), I let myself go, we’ll see where it goes.
“I’m not sure to continue this season, maybe to stop here and see if I start again next year.
“For now, I need a bit of rest. I’m signed with Rennes, but really I have to cut it.”
Paire did not rule out returning to take part in another Grand Slam but admitted he will need to get motivated again.
“I won’t say that this is the last time that we’ll see me in a Grand Slam,” he said.
“If I can rediscover the motivation and the desire, I think that the tennis is always there.
“In training, I feel very good. If my head really wants to come back, it will all come back very quickly.
“However, if my head says ‘you’ve played enough, that’s 13 years that you’re on the circuit, I can’t give any more’, it’s my head that decides, not my body.
“I’m not saying that it’s over, but in these conditions, it’s difficult to project/look forward. It’s a saturation. If the head come back, I know that I will be a good tennis player.”
GUNS CRUISE THROUGH… BUT ONE BIG NAME CRUMBLES UNDER PRESSURE
Elsewhere, Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz reached the second round of a sweltering US Open on Tuesday as former champions Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka prepared to light up the New York night.
World number one and French Open champion Swiatek eased past Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-0 in just 67 minutes.
Victory was a relief for the 21-year-old Pole who had suffered early losses at warm-up events in Toronto and Cincinatti.
“In matches, being a little bit stressed and tight, it can get a little bit worse, but still, I feel like my level is just better,” said Swiatek.
“We’ll see if I’m going to hold on to that.”
Alcaraz, the 19-year-old world number four, was made to sweat by battling Sebastian Baez, winning the first two sets 7-5, 7-5 before the Argentine retired injured 0-2 down in the third.
“Nobody wants to see a match end like this. Sebastian is a great player, fights to the last ball and deserves better things,” said Alcaraz, a quarter-finalist in 2021.
As the temperature soared beyond the 30-degree mark, Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina was the most high profile player to wilt.
The Kazakh lost 6-4, 6-4 to French qualifier Clara Burel, ranked a lowly 131, on the back of 37 unforced errors.
NADAL BRACES FOR AUSSIE, OSAKA LOOKS TO REVERSE LOSING SKID
Later Tuesday, four-time champion Nadal begins his bid for a 23rd Grand Slam title and 20th win at the majors in 2022.
The 36-year-old Spaniard tackles Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata, ranked 191 and making his debut at the Slams.
Nadal comes into the tournament under an injury cloud after an abdominal strain forced him to forfeit his Wimbledon semi-final against Nick Kyrgios.
Since then, he has played just once, a first-up loss to Bornal Coric in Cincinnati.
“I take it very easy in the Cincinnati, too, in the practices. The match, I try my best without putting all the effort there on the serve,” Nadal said on the eve of the US Open.
“I hope to be ready for the action. That’s the only thing that I can say.”
Despite his caution, Nadal remains a title favourite in his first appearance in New York since his 2019 title triumph.
His chances have been boosted by the absence of old rival Novak Djokovic who was banned from entering the United States over his refusal to be vaccinated.
Japan’s two-time champion Osaka completes the night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium when she faces 19th seed Danielle Collins, this year’s runner-up at the Australian Open.
Former world number one Osaka, the champion in New York in 2018 and 2020, is on a three-match losing streak in the US hard court season.
Osaka has won all three meetings against Collins without dropping a set. The American arrives in New York having withdrawn from tournaments in San Jose, Toronto and Cincinnati with a neck injury.
Defending champion Emma Raducanu of Britain kicks off the night session on Louis Armstrong Stadium against France’s Alize Cornet.
World number 40 Cornet is appearing in her 63rd consecutive Grand Slam, a new Open Era record, previously held by Ai Sugiyama of Japan.
After seeing Serena Williams stave off impending retirement by reaching the second round on Monday, big sister Venus eyes an 80th career win at the tournament.
Venus, 42, first played the US Open in 1997 where she finished runner-up. Now ranked 1,504 in the world and without a win in just the three matches she has played in 2022, the American faces Alison van Uytvanck.
