Former world number 18 Benoît Paire has come under fire yet again for a number of bizarre acts in his walkover loss to Pedro Martínez in the Málaga Challenger.

The match ended in the second set with the score 6-0, 4-2 in Martínez’s favour with Paire calling it quits after conceding another break point.

The 34-year-old began to unravel in the second game of the first set when Martínez broke his opponent’s serve for the first time. Paire then picked a ball out of his shorts and smashed it out of the stadium.

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In the fourth game, Paire then barely attempted to hit back Martínez’s return to his serve which was judged to have hit the line. The Frenchman then stared down the umpire and dropped his racquet in frustration.

Paire then hit a number of shots long or into the net and at one stage walked between shots with Martínez winning the point. It was an effort that was reminiscent of past performances where the French star has been accused of tanking.

In the second set, the former world top 20 player did manage to pull off a number of quality winners but after the sixth game, down 4-2, gestured to Martínez that it was all over for him.

One X user described Paire’s effort as an “embarrassment” with Martínez now progressing through to the round of 16.

Throughout his long career, Paire has courted controversy on a number of occasions, notably in 2016 when he was kicked out France’s Olympics squad and the athletes’ village for poor behaviour.

At the 2018 Washington Open, he was fined for smashing his racquet onto the court seven times.

Once again in 2021, he was barred from France’s Olympics team for slamming Australian Open organisers, describing the tournament as “shameful” due to quarantine restrictions.