"In the end it's useful to be useless." Cerundolo, whose brother Juan Manuel won the Cordoba Open in Argentina last week, will face sixth seeded Pablo Andujar in the quarter-finals after the Spaniard beat Italian Gianluca Mager 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).
Benoit Paire
Frenchman Benoit Paire crashed out of the Argentina Open in disgrace on Thursday after he was docked a point for spitting, and then 'tanked' his final service game in a stormy second round clash against local favourite Francisco Cerundolo. The world number 29, seeded third in Buenos Aires, lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 against the 22-year-old world number 137. The first flashpoint came in the second set with Paire leading 40-15 on Cerundolo's serve, having been broken in the previous game. The 31-year-old was angered when a Cerundolo serve down the middle was deemed an ace.
Paire argued furiously with Spanish umpire Nacho Forcadell that it should have been called wide, pointing to a mark on the clay surface but failing to convince the official. The Frenchman then spat on the mark and shouted obscenities before he was given a warning by Forcadell. Although he won the next point to break back, Paire was docked a point a couple of games later after again spitting and arguing with Forcadell. Paire called for the tournament supervisor, Jorge Mandl who tried to calm the Frenchman, but to no avail.
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Ever more mistakes crept into the riled Frenchman's game and at 5-1 down in the third and final set, he appeared to give up and 'tanked'. Two mistakes left him trailing 0-30, after which he served two wild double-faults, seemingly deliberately. He even hit his final serve of the match while a ballboy was still on court recovering his first service ball. Soon after his match, Paire left a message on Twitter showing his career earnings of more than $8.5 million with the words: "In the end it's useful to be useless." Cerundolo, whose brother Juan Manuel won the Cordoba Open in Argentina last week, will face sixth seeded Pablo Andujar in the quarter-finals after the Spaniard beat Italian Gianluca Mager 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).
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