He once ended Novak Djokovic’s 16-match winning streak at the Miami Open but has since dropped down to 568 in the world rankings

Follow us on Google Discover

Novak Djokovic is bidding to make his return to the Miami Open in 2025 after a six-year hiatus.

Djokovic has struggled for form since the Australian Open, highlighted by his straights defeat in his only match at Indian Wells against lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp.

This has sparked concern for the 24-time Grand Slam champion, with Djokovic not seeming himself in recent weeks.

However, the Serbian now has an opportunity to redeem himself at the tournament he has won six times before, with Djokovic looking to progress through the Miami draw once again.

Although Djokovic has had plenty of success at the Miami Open over the years, he was stunned at the 2018 tournament in a match that brought his tournament winning streak to an end.

Benoit Paire ends Novak Djokovic’s winning streak at the Miami Open

Djokovic had won the Miami Open for three consecutive years between 2014 and 2016, as one of two men to complete this feat alongside Andre Agassi.

What separates Djokovic in this category is that he also won Indian Wells in all of those years as well, enabling him to complete the coveted sunshine double more than any other player in history (four times).

This built up a 16-match winning streak at the Miami Open for Djokovic, with two of his matches not counting as wins after receiving walkovers.

Included in this is a victory in the 2015 final over Djokovic’s now coach Andy Murray, who will be mentoring him at the same event 10 years later.

Djokovic was unable to go for a fourth Miami Open title in a row in 2017, after an injury to his right elbow forced him to withdraw.

However, Djokovic’s 16-match unbeaten run would still be intact when returning return to Miami in 2018, but that elbow injury was very much still a factor.

After missing most of the second half of the 2017 season due to this injury, Djokovic suffered a shock Australian Open defeat upon his return and would then undergo surgery to try and fix the issue.

Djokovic lost his next match to Taro Daniel at Indian Wells, before heading to the Miami Open.

This would not be a happy return for Djokovic, who saw his 16-match winning streak come to an end in just over an hour at the hands of the then world number 47 Benoit Paire.

Paire would beat Djokovic, 6-3 6-4, to confirm a third consecutive defeat for the Serbian, an unwanted feat that he has just repeated for the first time in seven years.

After the match, Djokovic admitted in his post-match press conference that his best level seemed impossible to reach at that moment.

“I mean, I’m trying, but it’s not working,” said Djokovic. “That’s all. That’s all it is. I mean, obviously I’m not feeling great when I’m playing this way. Of course, I want to be able to play as well as I want to play. Just it’s impossible at the moment. That’s all. I lost to a better player.”

Djokovic has only played at the Miami Open once more since this disappointing loss, losing in the fourth round to Roberto Bautista Agut in 2019.

He will return to the second half of the sunshine double in 2025, while Paire is nowhere to be seen at these big tournaments anymore.

What has happened to Benoit Paire since beating Novak Djokovic?

Paire has a career-high ranking of world number 18 and three ATP Tour titles to his name, but the sometimes controversial Frenchman has tumbled down the ranks in recent years.

The now 35-year-old has only won six matches on the ATP Tour since August 2022, and has not played in a Grand Slam main draw since Roland Garros in 2023, where Djokovic won the title after beating Casper Ruud in the final.

You have to go even further back to find Paire’s last Grand Slam main draw win, having beaten Grigor Dimitrov to reach the third round of the Australian Open in 2022.

In 2025, Paire plays most of his matches on the ATP Challenger Tour and is currently at his lowest ranking since 2009 (world number 568), after winning only one of his last six matches.

Paire suffered a particular low last year when he lost a first round Challenger match to British player Jacob Fearnley in just 37 minutes.