Benoit Paire, the world No. 46, was handed a code violation for lack of effort during his first-round loss to Diego Schwartzman at Wimbledon on Tuesday. Paire won just five points in the third and final set.
Paire and Schwartzman began the match on Monday before it was suspended after a rain-filled day at the All England Club. Schwartzman, the tournament's No. 9 seed, held a 6-3, 6-4 lead when play resumed.
After losing the first five games of the third set, Paire opened the sixth game by hitting two forehand returns into the net. Umpire Mohamed Lahyani then handed him the code violation. Paire then walked over to his chair, said he was experiencing pain and asked to see the physio. Lahyani denied the request, upheld his ruling and encouraged Paire to show more sportsmanship despite Paire's continued pleas.
Paire was then heckled by at least one fan in the stands who yelled, "You're wasting everybody's time!"
Paire lost the next two points to end the match. The entire third set took 16 minutes.
According to Metro UK, Paire expressed his disagreement with Lahyani's assessment of his lack of effort as well his disdain for the crowd in his postmatch news conference.
"I do not care about the people," Paire said. "I play for me and that is it. I do not play for people."
Paire has won just two matches this season and has not recorded a victory since Madrid. He previously sparked controversy for his complaints about the quarantine at the Australian Open in which he called the treatment of players "shameful."