(Reuters) – Frenchman Benoit Paire dropped out of the Argentine Open Championship after tanking his last service match and getting a point for spitting on the court in a 4-6 6-3 6-1 loss to Francisco Cerundolo.
World No. 29 Paire, who seeded third in the tournament, lost his temper over a line call when a 2-0 down in the second set after Cerundolo served down the middle was judged ace.
The 31-year-old bearded man argued hotly with the court umpire over a mark in the clay near the line but failed to convince the officer to reverse the call.
He then spat at the mark and shouted obscenity, earning a warning for breaking a first code of conduct.
Later in the set, he got a point for a second breach of code of conduct after spitting again and arguing with the chair referee.
Serving at 5-1 down in the third set, Paire made two wild double faults that seemed intent on losing the contest, tapping his last serve very wide while a ball kid was still on the court restores his previous service.
After the fight, he posted a picture of his $ 8.50 million career earnings and wrote: “In the end it’s worth sucking.”
Famous as a headliner, Paire has had several pitfalls throughout his career, including being kicked out of the 2016 Rio Olympics by the French delegation for spending too much time away from the athletes’ village.
After being knocked out of the first round of the Australian Open, Paire launched a fair trade at the organizers, accusing them of treating “shameful” players during quarantine before the Grand Slam.
Cerundolo, whose brother Juan Manuel won the Cordoba Open Championship in Argentina last week, went on to clash in the quarterfinals against sixth seed Pablo Andujar.