Draper secures controversial match-point against Auger-Aliassime in Cincinnati Open

Jack Draper won a controversial match point against Félix Auger-Aliassime at the Cincinnati Open on Friday.

The Briton appeared to hit the ball on to the floor off the frame of his racket before it looped over the net. Auger-Aliassime argued with the umpire, who deemed the shot fair. With no video replay available to the officials, the decision was left to the umpire. Draper won the match 5-7 6-4 6-4 and will face Holger Rune in the quarter-final.

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[rohitbagai]

Felix has handled that with such grace it can't even be believed. He even hugged him warmly after. What a guy!

[Sinb]

so mature for a professional player: "I don't expect you to make that call [to draper]". Huge kudos for Felix on understanding that, and for still hugging warming after.

[jules]

You can't tell on slow mo replay whether it hit the ground after the racquet. It looked like it jammed into the ground at the same time as hitting his racquet. There is no way the umpire could see if it was legal or not in real time

[ptt]

Draper knew he didn’t get it. What a joke. this ref just lost a spot in the majors.

[hpfme]

Draper can concede the point if he wants to, other players do that for fair play & sportsmanship! He instead put the burden to the umpire because he knows it favors him.

[oleharder]

Jack Draper knew he lost the point. You can tell by the fact that he took another swing at the ball and was walking back to the baseline to continue. Super poor sportsmanship on his part, but ultimately it is up to the tournament to have video replay and the umpire to be competent.

[TMPOUZI]

Bad look for Draper, not conceding the point, while he knew it wasn't a fair shot. Also the umpire should be fired asap and ATP consider VAR for next season

[AdamVrbas]

This really is NOT an easy call even when slowed down and or paused. Looks like the ball touched the floor and the racket frame at the same time, so I don't blame anyone here. Just a really tough call.

[hdiuqwx]

My humble assessment from slowing this poor quality 1080p video at 0.25x speed is that the incoming ball to draper hit the ground and Draper's racket frame edge closest to the ground at the same time and got sandwiched there for millie seconds then it sprung up. That makes it not Drapers point and the umpire was wrong. I feel that is what happened and i dont blame the umpire because you need very high speed frame rate camera to tell fir certain what happened.

[daveschellenberg]

draper should have refused the win. he just looks like a moral coward.

[bartwilson]

That umpire needs to be fired immediately and Draper knows what he did. He has to live with that and the tennis replays and humiliation.

[orzxoxd]

Not 100% sure but looks like the ball hit the frame then the ground and hit the racket one more time

[matebenko]

Draper says if he can check the point on video and it shows the ball bounced on the ground after he hit it, then he is willing to replay the point🤣🤣🤣

[bmwguy]

Draper asked for video re iee. He more or less knew what happened. Should have just given the point to the opponent even if the ref was blind and didn't call it. Hats off to Felix and his parents handling the situation like a class act. His parent raised him right.

[FEDD]

Draper has no honor. Even casual players would know what happened.

[recrevs]

Draper trying to be nice when he knows what happened. This umpire already had mistakes and should be moved down from top matches. Cannot believe there is no replay. Can you imagine this was a final?

[ef]

You can't even see it on 0, 25 x if the ball touched Drapers racquets 2x or a if it was a double bounce..

[raphalopes]

So sorry for Felix. Quite a nice guy, showed a lot of class handling this situation even knowing he was right... Tennis tournaments, especially big ones like this need better technology, come on! It's not acceptable not having a simple instant replay to help in cases like this.

[operadad]

this is supposed to be a professional sport...what a circus the Cincinnati Open has become

[KLiekefett]

Let’s give Draper a break here. I’ve been playing tennis for 45 years, including as a tennis instructor for several years. I watched this several times in slow motion, and I’m still not sure.