'I wasn't alcoholic, but I drank a lot': Paire Reveals Reasons For Change

| by Balasz Virag

Benoit Paire has had a lot of problems in his career including mental health and depression and to his credit, he talked about it openly.

You could argue that Benoit Paire has many flaws but he's always been very real and open with them. The French player was once a Top 20 level talent yet recent years saw him battle various types of demons both on and off the court.

The pandemic was a big part of that and he's openly talked about his problems with depression and other things. He recently admitted to RMC Sport that he had moments where he consumed a lot of alcohol but denied ever being dependent on it.

As the head was fine, I said to myself: Stop the alcohol a little too. I did a detox. It's not that I was an alcoholic but I drank a lot, I liked it, I did too much when I often partied. I didn't set myself any limits. It paid off, I was able to lose a few pounds.

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For Paire, it was a way to unwind and detach from the hardships of reality but to his credit, he realized the problem and fixed it. His tennis improved slightly since then but it's still not perfect. The end of February was when he finally decided to do something about it.

It all clicked in Waco on February 28 of this year. I couldn't find the motivation. I was wondering, 'What am I doing playing Challenger tournaments at a university, in front of two people?' I meditated a lot and had a very long phone conversation with my mom.

I left for Puerto Vallarta with a completely different mindset. Nicolas Mahut can attest to that, he also helped me a lot after the first round (in Mexico) when I made the save a match point.

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