34-year-old French tennis star Benoit Paire went into his 2023 French Open match against Cameron Norrie ranked World No. 149. Few would have expected Paire to have any chance of beating Norrie, the World No. 13. However, Paire put up an admirable fight. Ultimately, though, it was Norrie who prevailed. The match lasted for around four hours and pushed Norrie to the limits. There was also some controversy, which actually helped Paire to get back into the match following a first-set loss.

Following the conclusion of the match, Paire stated that he was happy despite his early exit from the tournament. However, the Frenchman lashed out at the quality of the balls in use at this year’s Stade Roland Garros showpiece.

Benoit Paire brutally trolls the balls in use at the 2023 French Open

In his post-match press conference, Paire revealed how happy he was after his fine display against Norrie. He also turned back the clock to the beginning of the year, when his ATP Tour ranking was a lowly 250. Quite clearly, Paire’s performances kept improving as the year progressed.

However, despite his satisfaction at giving Norrie a tough fight, Paire was disappointed with the balls that were being used in his match. Paire said, “It’s ridiculous, the balls get bigger after two seconds, the new balls don’t last anything, not a game, they’re rubbish.”

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Paire refused to blame the balls for his defeat, though, and instead hailed Norrie for being better than him. “That’s not the reason why I didn’t win, although I recognize that you can’t play tennis with these types of balls, you can’t attack or advance”. Paire went on to say, “today I lost because Cameron was better, it was a shame to play with those balls.”

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Norrie, the British No. 1, suffered an unexpected wobble against Paire. The first set was tight, but eventually Norrie came out on top. However, the second and third sets went to Paire 6-4, 6-3. The momentum of the match shifted primarily due to a controversial decision from the chair umpire. It came early in the second set and saw Norrie shouting mid-point. The chair umpire penalized Norrie, and that seemed to give Paire an edge. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for the Frenchman to ultimately get the better of the Briton.

This controversial moment isn’t the first time Norrie has landed himself in trouble this year. At the Italian Open, Norrie smashed a ball, which hit Novak Djokovic. The Serb didn’t look pleased with Norrie and gave him a glaring look in return. Norrie immediately apologized to Djokovic, but the Serb criticized the Briton in his post-match press conference.

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