Benoit Paire has never been a personification of a hard-working, dedicated guy. Instead, he often puts tennis behind other things in life, still winning three ATP titles and cracking the top-20.
Paire admits he wouldn't follow the path of
Roger Federer,
Novak Djokovic and
Rafael Nadal, not willing to sacrifice his regular life and spend more time on the practice court. Happy with his life and career, Benoit enjoys other things besides tennis, playing golf and traveling with his friends.
"I'm not jealous of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic. I respect them a lot, and what they do is fantastic. People often tell me that I have what it takes to crack the top-10. Still, I can't train hard enough on the practice court, and my physical preparation will never be at the top level. I won't make these sacrifices, and I don't have other qualities to challenge the top-ranked guys and improve my ranking.
Winning a Major has never been my motivation. I prefer to be a top-30 player instead and enjoy life. I love playing golf and drinking spritzes, instead of sacrificing everything to achieve big goals in tennis. When I stop playing tennis, I will still have my spritzes, nights out and golf. I have a wonderful life; I make money, enjoy myself and travel. I wouldn't sacrifice a thing to be the world No. 1. In 2019 I went to Mykonos and Ibiza. I treated myself and shared the best moments of my life with my friends. And that's not something I'll do when I'm 40," Benoit Paire said.