Benoit Paire poses without top in "devilish" thirst trap

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ATP world number 173 Benoit Paire described a recent photo posted on his Instagram account with the devil emoji. In the picture, Paire shows his defined back. "NEW BEGINNING…," Paire captioned the photo.

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A post shared by Benoit Paire (@benpaire)

Here are a few of the reactions had by Paire's followers:

• "We definitely lost you Benoit"
• "Onlyfans?"
• "Take it off"
• "Lol still covering that neck"

Fellow tennis star Gael Monfils liked Paire's new apparition.

Paire has gone through rough times recently

Many consider the Frenchman to be one of the most skilled and distinctive players on the ATP Tour. The previous world number 18 has had a rough time in recent years, with the pandemic, empty stadiums, and a variety of other circumstances putting him in considerable hardship and causing him to fall down the rankings.

At the start of October, Paire said: "Playing at home is a bit complicated for me at the moment. People still expect a lot from me, I was number 18 in the world and therefore they always expect to see me win. Mentally I wasn't ready and I'm not ready to play my best tennis, so I thought a quieter place would be better and from here I chose Portugal.

A common way to enjoy my tennis, I am very happy here and prefer to play outside of France. If I get back to my best level, maybe I'll play in France again but there is too much pressure there and new pressures are created with each victory." Paire was eliminated by Kazakh Skatov in the quarter-finals of the Lisbon Challenger.

In recent months Benoit has explained his difficulties. "Even if I am advised not to play. I try to get rid of this thing, because before I liked tennis, I liked these moments of tension, being on the court, but now I feel really unwell.

It is a state of mind that I have had for a while. Right now I dislike tennis, I hate it. Going on the pitch is something that disgusts me. Every time I step into it, I feel like running away. When I find myself on the pitch I am assailed by anxiety, I can't manage it."