TODAY’S TALKER

No. 33-ranked tennis player not sweating early tournament exits

Frenchman Benoit Paire has not done much to justify his No. 33 world men’s tennis ranking this year, with only one win in eight 2021 matches and only two wins since last August, when professional tennis returned amid the coronavirus pandemic.

There have been first-round flameouts in Acapulco and Santiago and Buenos Aires and Melbourne, often to players ranked much lower than him.

This is all part of Paire’s plan, apparently.

“I lost in the first round, it’s better, I will be able to get out of the bubble fairly quickly and enjoy a few days before Miami,” Paire told French sports daily L’equipe after his 68-minute loss to Stefanos Tsitsipaso on March 16.

Paire was referring to the Miami Open, which begins play today without 21 players who have withdrawn, including four of the top six in the men’s world rankings. It’ll be the first ATP 1000 tournament without either Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal since 2004, and Serena Williams — an eight-time winner of the event who lives nearby.

Few sports have been affected by the pandemic restrictions on fans as much as professional tennis, which relies upon ticket sales to pay prize money and appearance fees to its players. Appearance fees given to top players also have been slashed, with Paire pointing out to L’equipe that he would take home $30,000 for winning an ATP 250 event but also $10,000 merely for showing up and losing in the first round.

“I arrive, I take some money and I go to the next tournament: I do my job,” he said. “Why tear yourself away like crazy to earn barely more?”