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WATCH: Benoit Paire catches ball in the frame of his racquet, somehow

The Frenchman fell to Kei Nishikori in the fourth round of the French Open, in five sets.

ByAshley Ndebele

Published Jun 03, 2019

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In a match that carried over from Sunday due to darkness, seventh-seeded Kei Nishikori battled past Frenchman Benoit Paire to move into his third French Open quarterfinal, 6-2, 6-7 (8), 6-2, 6-7 (8), 7-5. He will play defending champion Rafael Nadal for a spot in the semifinals.

After going down two sets to one, Paire saved a couple of match points to send the match to the fifth. The Frenchman would serve for the match, but was unable to close it out, as the Japanese broke back and finally advanced an hour after earning his first match points.

In the midst of all that drama, there was a bit of comic relief. In the fourth game of the fourth set during one of the match's most exciting rallies, Nishikori moved forward and hit a heavy forehand that—somehow—got stuck in the frame of Paire's racquet, eliciting a loud response from the Parisian crowd. Watch it above.

“That’s stuck in the throat of his racquet. Have a look at that,” said one of the commentators. “The crowd is looking to see where the ball went as it struck firmly at Paire.”

Catch up on Week 1 at Roland Garros on the TENNIS.com Podcast:

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WATCH: Benoit Paire catches ball in the frame of his racquet, somehow

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