"Felix Auger-Aliassime was classy...If I was in that situation, I don't know how I would've reacted": Jack Draper revisits Cincinnati Open controversy
Jack Draper recently revisited the controversy that marred the ending of his third-round win against Felix Auger-Aliassime at this year's Cincinnati Open. The Brit was controversially awarded match point despite video replays later showing that the point should have instead gone to the Canadian.
Draper and Auger-Aliassime locked horns at the prestigious ATP Masters 1000 event on Friday, August 16. The Canadian took the first set 7-5, but the Brit leveled things up by clinching the second set 6-4.
Jack Draper went on to set up a match point opportunity in the tenth game of the third set, but got an attempted drop volley all wrong, with the ball hitting his racket, bouncing off the ground and then hitting the racket once more before touching the net cord on its way to Auger-Aliassime's court.
At this point, the Canadian had almost stopped, believing that the point would go his way to level things up in the game 40-40. However chair umpire Greg Allensworth awarded the match point to Draper.
A baffled Auger-Aliassime voiced his protest without overstepping the line, but in vain, as Allensworth stuck to his decision, even after a consultation with the supervisor. Video replays later showed that Auger-Aliassime was right, which sparked outrage.
Draper faced stinging criticism as well, with many suggesting that the Brit knew that his attempted drop volley was an invalid shot. The 22-year-old though, claimed that he was looking at Auger-Aliassime while playing the shot and that he would be open to replaying the point. Ultimately, it was the Brit who progressed to the fourth round of the Cincinnati Open on the back of the erroneous decision.
Recently, Draper sat down for an interview with The Guardian, and he revisited the controversial incident. The Brit lauded Auger-Aliassime for maintaining his composure throughout the episode as it unfolded, and said that he didn't know what he himself would have done if he found himself in the Canadian's shoes in that particular instance.
"The way [Auger-Aliassime] dealt with it, obviously on the court, but then in the changing room as well, he’d obviously seen the replay, and probably had his questions – ‘You knew’ and stuff like that – but he was classy about it, and full respect to him. Because if I was in that situation that he was in, I don’t know how I would have reacted, and I don’t know how a lot of people would have reacted," Draper told The Guardian.
Draper is currently in New York, preparing to kickstart his 2024 US Open campaign.
Jack Draper set to begin US Open campaign against Zhang Zhizhen
Jack Draper is slated to commence the third US Open campaign of his career against China's Zhang Zhizhen on Tuesday, August 27. The Brit is the No. 25 seed at the prestigious hardcourt Major, and his first-round meeting against Zhang is set to mark the pair's maiden meeting on the ATP Tour.
If Jack Draper manages to come out on top against the World No. 41, he will go on to face either Argentine Facundo Diaz Acosta or Frenchman Hugo Gaston in the second round.
The Brit's two previous outings at the US Open saw him reach the third and fourth rounds in 2022 and 2023 respectively. His third-round exit in 2022 against Russian Karen Khachanov was unfortunate, as he was forced to retire in the third set with an injury. Last year, he lost to No. 8 seed Andrey Rublev in the fourth round.