Watch: Jack Draper involved in ‘most controversial match point ever’

Jack Draper is through to the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals – after winning what has been described as “the most controversial match point ever”.

The British No 1 came from behind to beat Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 but the match ended with a long argument at the net over the legality of the decisive point.

Draper hit the ball at a low angle and it appeared to then strike the court, which sent it bouncing high before it clipped the net and dropped over onto Auger-Aliassime’s side.

The umpire, Greg Allensworth, said he was “ruling that that was a fair shot” and then awarded the match to Draper. But that is when a lengthy back-and-forth broke out at the net, with Auger-Aliassime describing the umpire’s decision as “horrendous” and saying “did you not see the ball bounce on the floor?”.

Allensworth said he “didn’t see that” and the lack of video review technology in the match meant that Auger-Aliassime could not challenge the call.

Tennis TV posted a video of the entire incident on X and described it as “the most controversial match point ever. What just happened?”

Draper, who looked somewhat surprised when the umpire called the match in his favour, immediately said: “I would replay it. If there was a replay I would replay but I don’t know.”

Auger-Aliassime addressed Draper, saying he surely knew that the ball had illegally hit the court but the Briton insisted he was not “100 per cent” sure.

The debate lasted several minutes, with the officiating supervisor called to the court, and the umpire stuck with his decision that it had been a fair shot. Eventually, Auger-Aliassime accepted the call and embraced Draper.

In his on-court interview, Draper said: “I was too busy looking at him (Auger-Aliassime). I didn’t see what happened. I looked at the umpire straight away to see if he called a double bounce or not.

“As a player, I’m trying to focus on what I’m doing. I can’t make that call if I‘m not 100 per cent. I said, when the supervisor came on, that if it was a double bounce and that he saw it clearly then I would have 100 per cent replayed the point.”

Nick Kyrgios responded to Tennis TV’s post on X by saying: “Horrible call, but every player knows you know exactly where you hit it hahaha ridiculous stuff.”

Draper will meet Danish 15th seed Holger Rune in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

Meanwhile, British No 2 Cameron Norrie has withdrawn from the US Open because of a forearm injury, which also ruled him out of the Olympics. This means Draper and Dan Evans are the only British men guaranteed to play in the major at Flushing Meadows, which starts on Aug 26.

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