Jack Draper’s bid to retain his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown came to an end Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open.
Two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev finished off the left-hander, 6-1, 7-5, but not without a controversial conclusion to the pair’s tussle inside Stadium 2.
With Draper serving at 5-5, 0-15 in the second set, the Brit thought his opponent’s shot was out. When a call didn’t come, he lifted his arms in the air and continued playing the point, eventually winning a baseline exchange.
Medvedev, however, approached chair umpire Aurelie Tourte about Draper’s gesture and options for contesting it as a hindrance. After Tourte informed the 2021 US Open champion he could challenge with a video review, Medvedev proceeded with that course of action and was subsequently awarded the point.
Minutes later, after going on to break Draper’s serve, Medvedev served out the contest. Fans let their opinion be heard throughout the closing stages by booing the decision, the break and the ending.
Afterwards, Medvedev had this to say about how it all went down.
“Was I distracted big time? No. Do I feel good about it? Not really. But I also don’t feel like I cheated or something,” he asserted.
“So I got a bit distracted. I let it go, I let the referee decide. I had a lot of calls against me in my life, and I usually don’t handle them well. To get one on my side, I guess feels good as well.”
The 30-year-old also shared, “now I can actually even talk more, because I have more info. I think I should have done it the moment it happened, like, I should not have waited until the end of the point, and then it would be a bit more, probably available.”
Draper is yet to comment on the matter to press. He told Tourte, “I think you’ve got that wrong” when she communicated her ruling and then shared with Medvedev that, “You won the match fair and square, but I don’t think it distracted you enough.”
Medvedev is set to meet top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz in Saturday’s semifinals. The Spaniard improved to 16-0 on the year after eliminating 2021 title holder Cameron Norrie, 6-3, 6-4. Alcaraz bested Medvedev in both the 2023 and 2024 Indian Wells finals.