Nick Kyrgios could not believe what transpired at the end of Jack Draper and Felix Auger-Aliassime’s match at the Cincinnati Open.
Two of the ATP’s top young players battled it out for a place in the quarter-finals of the Masters 1000 event in Ohio.
Draper and Auger-Aliassime produced an entertaining three-set battle in Ohio which the Brit won 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, but their contest was overshadowed by the controversy that occurred at the end of the match.
Kyrgios, who is not afraid to speak his mind, took to social media platform X to share his honest opinion on the incident.
What did Nick Kyrgios say about Jack Draper vs Felix Auger Aliassime at the Cincinnati Open?
While Jack Draper was serving on match point, he delivered a serve out wide and came to the net behind it and attempted to finish the point with a volley.
But he did not connect cleanly and Auger-Aliassime thought the ball hit the ground after it came off the frame of Draper’s racket and trickled over the net.
Chair umpire Greg Allensworth thought otherwise and awarded Draper the point, meaning he won the match despite Auger-Aliassime pleading his case.
Kyrgios saw the point and was stunned by the decision made by umpire Allensworth. “Mate. Horrible call, but every player knows that you know exactly where you hit it hahaha ridiculous stuff,” he posted.
What was the conversation between the players and officials at the Cincinnati Open?
Following the call Auger-Alliasime told the chair umpire: “That’s horrendous what you just did,” after Allensworth said he did not see the ball hit the ground after it came off the frame of Draper’s racket.
After the decision went against him the Olympic bronze medallist Auger-Aliassime called the supervisor on court and Draper told him he was unsure if he got the ball back and wanted the point replayed.
“If you were to tell me that it hit the floor, I’d play the point again, I would play the point again but I don’t know, that’s why I said about the replay earlier,” Draper told the supervisor.
He turned to Auger Aliamsimme and said: “Felix, if he says to me right now that the ball hit the ground and he saw it on the TV, I would play the point again.”
The supervisor was none the wiser and Auger-Aliassime asked umpire Allensworth one more time if he was confident with his decision.
The official stood by his call and the players shook hands as Draper backed up his win over Stefanos Tsitsipas to advance to the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals, where he will face Holger Rune.
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