Benoît Paire, ever more provocative: "The best day of my year".

Beaten in the first round of the Matsuyama Challenger by the world's 265th-ranked player, Australian James McCabe, Benoît Paire won't play in an official tournament again until 2025. The Frenchman has thus come to the end of a very complicated 2024 season, which saw him plummet from 109th to 304th in the world rankings.

The story could have ended there, but Paire never does anything like everyone else. Instead of keeping a low profile, the Frenchman chose to ironize about this latest counter-performance and its consequences, posting a tweet: "The best day of my year. Season over."

This will do little to calm the ardor of the former world No. 18's detractors. Particularly in France, where they are becoming increasingly numerous.