Listless Benoit Paire eats up bagels in defeat to Cameron Norrie at US Open

Benoit Paireadmitted his defeat to Cameron Norrie at the US Open could have been the last match of his career.

The mercurial Frenchman has been criticised many times for his attitude on court and he barely seemed to try in the first and third sets during a 6-0 7-6 (7-1) 6-0 defeat by Norrie at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday.

He had packed his bag ready to leave the court prior to coming out to serve at 0-5 in the third and won just 17 points combined across the two love sets.

Paire has been open about his mental struggles on the court and, speaking to L'Equipe, he revealed he is considering not returning to tennis.

He said: "I was leading 5-3, I could have taken the second set, it would have done me good in the head, but my demons came back again, the double faults, and it starts all the time the same.

"We’ll see what happens. I’m not sure to continue the season, maybe stop there and see if I resume next year.

"Even at grand slams, I find it difficult to fight. I hope one day to find a motivation, something that will make me love tennis. Right now, I’m the happiest when I’m at home and the unhappiest when I’m in the tournament.

"I don’t even want to get angry on a tennis court any more. It’s not a good sign – if I don’t get angry, it’s because I don’t care."

Third seed Carlos Alcaraz reached the second round after an injury forced his Argentine opponent Sebastian Baez to retire when the Spaniard was leading 7-5 7-5 2-0 on Arthur Ashe.

The pair were evenly matched in the first set, with the 19-year-old Alcaraz getting the break in the last game, before hot and humid conditions tested both opponents in the second set.

Alcaraz, who became the youngest man to reach the quarter-final at Flushing Meadows a year ago, was not at his best as