Rafael Nadal's brilliant reaction to another Benoit Paire tantrum
Benoit Paire has continued his racquet-smashing ways in Toronto, and Rafael Nadal’s reaction said it all.
Paire copped a whopping $22,000 fine after smashing four racquets in a monumental meltdown at the Citi Open last week.
But by the looks of things, he hasn’t learned his lesson.
The Frenchman was in another volatile mood as he lost to Nadal at the Rogers Cup on Thursday, smashing his racquet multiple times.
But the moment that riled Nadal came in the first set when Paire nearly wiped out a ballboy.
Nadal toyed with his opponent in one of the best rallies of the match, resulting in a frustrated Paire throwing his racquet in disgust.
A young ballkid was forced to retrieve the racquet for Paire, and Nadal’s unimpressed look said it all, shooting daggers at the Frenchman.
A few fans on social media noticed Nadal’s fiery reaction, while others couldn’t believe Paire was at it again.
That look at the end…clearly not a fan of Paire's mood swings
— 2B (@Makaveli2B) August 9, 2018
“That’s racquet toss number five for those scoring at home” 😊 @rogerscup Paire – Nadal
— Carol Ann Jessiman (@Vinetopia) August 9, 2018
Paire leads Nadal 4-0…in racquet smashes. Advantage Benoit all the way. #Toronto #RodgersCup
— Wendy Edelstein (@wendyedel) August 9, 2018
Paire has thrown his racquet more than he has hit the ball🤷🏿♀️
— TroubleFault (@troublefault) August 9, 2018
Dear Benoit Paire, no hard feelings, is not the racquet it’s your head that fails #RogersCup #respectthegame
— Daniel Rodriguez (@danielRsolas) August 9, 2018
@jon_wertheim not sure what’s worse… ball kids having to handle sweaty towels or ball kids having to pick up Benoit Paire racquet every other game.
— Ricky Weisskopf (@RickyWSQ) August 9, 2018
Rafa joins Djokovic in third round
Four-times champion Novak Djokovic and top seed Nadal advanced to the third round of the weather-interrupted event.
Djokovic, coming off his fourth Wimbledon title, beat Canadian wild card Peter Polansky 6-3 6-4 after heavy morning rain in Toronto delayed the ATP Masters 1000 match by about an hour.
The Serb had seven aces and never faced a break point in the one hour 24 minute match which just beat the afternoon delay.
“I thought I served well in the moments when I really need it,” Djokovic said.
“I thought I found pretty good accuracy and angles with the first serve, and also my second serve worked pretty well.
“Overall, my game was so-and-so. In the moments when I probably needed to step it up, I did.”
Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas set up a round of 16 showdown with Djokovic by knocking off seventh-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3 7-6 (8-6).
Nadal, playing for the first time since a five-set loss to Djokovic in the Wimbledon semi-finals, topped Paire 6-2 6-3 in a night match after a series of stoppages due to rain.
The Spanish world No.1 will face the winner of the match between Marton Fucsovics and Nick Kyrgios’ first-round conqueror Stan Wawrinka.
German second seed Alexander Zverev, the winner last week in Washington, beat American Bradley Klahn 6-4 6-4 while fourth-seeded South African Kevin Anderson edged Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy 4-6 6-2 7-6 (7-0).
Eighth-seeded John Isner, the American who won at Atlanta two weeks ago, beat France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 but Italy’s 14th seed Fabio Fognini, coming off a victory at Los Cabos, suffered a 6-3 7-5 (16-14) defeat to Canadian young gun Denis Shapovalov.
Karen Khachanov upset 12th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4 7-6 (7-3), Ilya Ivashka toppled Ryan Harrison 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 and American Frances Tiafoe edged Canada’s Milos Raonic 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-1.
with AAP