"It's called Karma Jack Draper", "Couldn't cheat his way out": Fans react to Felix Auger-Aliassime's Davis Cup 'revenge' after Cincinnati controversy
Felix Auger-Aliassime avenged his controversial Cincinnati Open loss to Jack Draper at the Davis Cup. The Canadian registered a 7-6(8), 7-5 win over the Brit in the international team tennis tournament's group stage. The victory marked Canada's progress to the quarterfinals and condemned Great Britain to an early exit. Fans reacted to the win later as they kept up the criticism in Draper's direction and congratulated Auger-Aliassime.
Auger-Aliassime and Draper's third-round meeting in Cincinnati ended in controversy after the chair umpire incorrectly awarded a match point to the Brit despite video replays later confirming that Draper had hit an invalid shot that shouldn't have counted. This would have prolonged the contest and allowed Auger-Aliassime a fighting chance of squaring things up.
The Canadian pleaded his case with both the chair umpire and the supervisor but they did not budge from the original decision. Auger-Aliassime instinctively knew that Draper's shot was an illegitimate one and he even urged the Brit to concede the point, suggesting that Draper himself knew about it.
While the Brit said he would have no problem replaying the point, he left the decision up to the chair umpire. According to Draper, he was looking in the Canadian's direction when the ball made contact with his racket and didn't know if the shot should have counted or not. Ultimately, a frustrated Auger-Aliassime had no option but to accept the chair umpire's contentious call.
However, after Felix Auger-Aliassime won his latest clash against Jack Draper in the Davis Cup group stage on Sunday, September 15, fans on X (formerly Twitter) were quick to pour in with their reactions.
Several suggested that the result delivered divine justice and was payback for the Canadian.
"Brilliant win Felix! it's called KARMA Mr Draper, Karma."
"Nice revenge for Felix for Cincy fiasco."
"Felix is still mad at Jack, normally he is much warmer at the net!!" a fan said.
"Believe that win might have been personal for Felix," another wrote.
There were others who took potshots at Draper. The Brit had come under fire in the aftermath of the Cincinnati Open incident as well.
"He couldn’t cheat his way outta this one haha."
"Imagine having beef with Felix of all people," one fan wrote.
"His true colours are showing! Thought he had more class!" another said in response to Draper's violent racket smash after losing the first set.
As criticism towards Draper mounted on the back of the controversial moment, he opened up about it and lauded Auger-Aliassime for keeping his cool.
Jack Draper hails Felix Auger-Aliassime's behavior despite chair umpire's incorrect call
Jack Draper opened up about the contentious scenes in Cincinnati in an interview with The Guardian. The Brit voiced his respect for Felix Auger-Aliassime, who maintained his composure and did not get worked up about the situation despite the chair umpire sticking to his wrong decision.
Draper tried to put himself in Auger-Aliassime's shoes and suggested that he might have reacted differently.
"The way [Felix 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 said.
The Davis Cup win over Draper yielded no ranking points for Auger-Aliassime. However, it ensured Canada's place in the Davis Cup quarterfinals, which are slated to commence on Tuesday, November 19, in Malaga, Spain.