While Andy Murray has waged a career-long campaign to rip the heart out of French tennis, Benoît Paire is determined to stop the Scot’s victory roll at 25 when he plays the defending champion in the fourth round at Wimbledon on Monday.
Murray is at a loss to explain his dominance over France’s finest – 95-14 overall, with Gilles Simon the last to beat him, in Rotterdam, two years ago – but Paire, who lost their only encounter, on clay in Monte Carlo last year, seems oblivious to either the real or statistical threat awaiting him.
After he beat the resurgent Jerzy Janowicz in straight sets on Friday, Paire, a sometimes emotional character on court, chose not to watch Murray’s four-set struggle against Fabio Fognini, preferring to return to his rented house nearby and have a barbecue with friends.
“To play Murray on Centre Court will be a good experience,” he said. “I think I can do something good against him. In Monte Carlo it was one set and two breaks for me and I lost the match in three sets.”
As Murray remembers it, that tight win kickstarted his season. “He served for the match and it was really average in terms of the level. The next day I beat [Milos] Raonic two and zero and then had a great match with Rafa [Nadal] in the semis, even though I lost. Sometimes it only takes one or two matches to start feeling good about yourself. After Monte Carlo I felt way, way better about my game and ended up having a great season.”
As for his one-man assault on the French, he said: “I don’t know why I have played well against them. There have been a lot of matches I’ve won from losing positions as well, so it’s not like I’ve killed them. There have been a lot of close matches and I’ve just managed to get through.
“Against Benoît, it will be important for me to serve well. He has a big serve himself, plays a lot of serve and volley, and, when you’re playing guys that are maybe a bit up and down, if you can keep consistent pressure on them by serving well and not giving them the opportunities on your own serve, that pressure builds over time. You have to capitalise when they have little lulls.”
While Paire was ignoring Murray on Friday evening, the world No1 was rushing home to Oxshott in Surrey to inject a rare dash of normality into his hectic life, relaxing briefly with his pregnant wife, Kim, and their daughter, Sophia. However, he is never far from the grind of his job. “I’ll be around home a bit more than I would be on match days but still we come here,” he said
On Saturday, Murray left home at 10.30am, saw his physio for an hour and had a 40-minute hit, followed by an ice bath to calm the soreness in his hip. “I’m not just sitting at home relaxing. We’ll get more time in the morning and just before [Sophia] goes to bed but there’s still a six, seven-hour period in the day where we’re in here doing our stuff.
“It’s not something we get too often during tournaments, a couple of days’ break. I know it might seem like nothing, but most athletes like routine, so this is a bit different to what we’re used to. It’s important that I make sure I use it properly but make sure I keep my mind focused on my tennis.”
His mind was on his petrol gauge earlier in the week when, having forgotten to fill up his tank, he found himself facing the prospect of having to push his car to a station near his house. As it happened, he had just enough to make it home. He will be hoping it is a metaphor for the rest of his campaign.
