Jack Draper secured a place in the last eight of the Cincinnati Open by coming from behind to beat Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime 5-7 6-4 6-4 in a match that ended in bizarre and tense circumstances.
It is the third consecutive three-set win for Draper, who will now face 15th-seeded Dane Holger Rune in the quarter-finals.
Auger-Aliassime had already beaten No. 7 Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-1 earlier in the day after rain prevented them from taking to the court on Thursday night. He showed no signs of tiring in the first set, however, taking his only break point in the 12th game. It was the only break point the Canadian had of the match, as Draper fought back to claim victory.
The match ended in controversy, however, with Auger-Aliassime furious that Draper’s match-ending shot was not legitimate. The Brit went for a drop shot, but his opponent was infuriated, with the ball appearing to deflect off Draper’s racket frame onto the floor before flying high and over the net via the cord.
Draper claimed he was looking at Auger-Aliassime rather than the ball at the moment of impact, adding: “I would replay it – if there was a replay I would replay it,” which did little to impress the Canadian. He told the referee, Gregory Allensworth: “You go out there now and it’s going to go everywhere and it’s going to look ridiculous – I mean it, it’s going to look ridiculous.”
The British player told the referee: “I may look like an idiot now because people say I’m not fair, but I was looking at him.” The supervisor was then called but had no grounds to overturn the decision, with Draper unwilling to concede the point without external confirmation that the call was incorrect. With no video recording available to the officials, the decision was then left to the referee.
Allensworth told Auger-Aliassime: “I just have to call it as I saw it. If I had any doubts I would tell you, but listen, we can look back at it after the game and if I see that I’m wrong I’ll admit it to you. But for now I can’t look back at it.”
The players hugged each other at the net as the final score was announced.
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Draper’s next opponent, Rune, also had to come from behind to beat Frenchman Gaël Monfils 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. World number 46 Monfils had already secured a win over Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz when their match resumed in the round of 16.
Rain had forced the players off the court on Thursday night with Alcaraz set but trailing 3-1 in a second-set tie-break. Monfils was quick out of the blocks to level the match, and he went on to take the deciding set for a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 triumph.
Third-seeded Alexander Zverev advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 7-6 (6) win over Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta. Andrey Rublev enjoyed a comfortable passage to the last eight, beating American Brandon Nakashima 7-6 (5), 6-1.