"I want to go home… Free me!!!" : Benoît Paire's unforgettable meltdown in Shanghai

© AFP

Arthur Millot

le 02/10/2025 à 15h58

1 min to read

Basilashvili Paire

Screams, gestures of frustration, killer tweet: in the second round of the 2019 Shanghai Masters 1000, Benoît Paire delivered a performance as explosive as it was astonishing against Nikoloz Basilashvili. A look back at this iconic moment when the Frenchman literally imploded on the court… before proclaiming his deliverance on Twitter.

It was October 8, 2019, during the second round of the Shanghai Masters 1000. A match that should have been just a formality, or at least another battle on the tour, turned into a true theater of raw emotions. On the court, Benoît Paire faced the Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili.

"I want to go home… Free me!!!" : this phrase, screamed in the middle of the match by a Benoît Paire on the verge of breaking down, still resonates. Exasperated by his own mistakes, frustrated by Basilashvili's pace, the Frenchman gradually lost his footing and his patience.

Between racket throws, gestures of annoyance, and dark glances toward his team, the atmosphere on the court became electric. But the most memorable moment remains that exclamation, both funny and dramatic.

A few hours after his defeat (6-4, 1-6, 6-4), Paire posted a tweet as brief as it was eloquent: "Deliverance."

This outburst adds to the long list of "Paire moments": those instances when the French player lets his emotions explode, even if it means completely derailing. But that's also what makes him a unique figure. Capable of the best as well as the worst, he fascinates as much as he divides.