Jack Draper has achieved the most significant final of his career by defeating Carlos Alcaraz.
His victory was partly due to an unprecedented DOUBLE VAR review during the match.
Draper, aged 23, achieved a stunning victory over Alcaraz, the current French Open and Wimbledon champion, in their highly anticipated semi-final match at Indian Wells.
This prestigious tournament is one of the nine Masters 1000 events held annually, ranking just below the four Grand Slams, and is often considered the “fifth Major”.
As the No. 13 seed, Draper is set to compete against the 12th seed, Holger Rune, in the final on Sunday in the Californian desert.
This final comes after a seesaw battle with Alcaraz, which featured an unusual incident early in the decisive set.
Draper dominated the first set 6-1, but Alcaraz retaliated to win the second set 6-0, with only 53 minutes elapsed in the match.
A pivotal moment occurred when Alcaraz was serving at 1-1, 15-15 in the third set.
Following an intense rally, the Spaniard executed a drop shot against his British opponent.
Draper chased down the ball and managed to flick it back over the net, prompting Alcaraz to rush to respond.
However, as the world No. 3 hit the ball wide, umpire Mohamed Lahyani declared “not up” via the microphone. This indicated Lahyani’s judgment that Draper had not reached the ball before its second bounce, thus awarding the point to Alcaraz.
Draper, convinced of the legitimacy of his return, immediately signaled his disagreement and appealed to the umpire, who seemed to realize a potential error.
With the aid of video technology now available in tennis, Lahyani donned his headset to review the play.
The replay clearly demonstrated that Draper had indeed made contact with the ball before its second bounce, and Lahyani acknowledged this.
The umpire then announced that the point would be replayed due to his initial mistake.
Subsequently, Draper requested a second video review, believing he should be awarded the point outright, as Alcaraz was unlikely to have returned the shot.
Draper argued, “He wasn’t even close to the ball. Mohamed, he was nowhere near. Can we get a video review on that?”
Lahyani attempted an explanation but eventually conceded and re-examined the footage, including Alcaraz’s subsequent miss.
He then confirmed, “After review, ladies and gentlemen, the ‘not up’ call was late, therefore the point is awarded to Mr. Draper.”
This decision was met with cheers and applause from the audience.
Alcaraz, who technically could have requested a third review to assess if the call had distracted him, and Draper exchanged words at the net before resuming play.
This decision proved critical as British No. 1 Draper secured the subsequent two points, breaking Alcaraz’s serve.
He achieved another break for a 5-2 lead, faced a setback when serving for the match but confidently closed out the victory at 5-4 on his first match point.
Draper has now won two out of three matches against Alcaraz, a four-time Grand Slam champion, including a previous win at Queen’s last summer.
The Surrey native, who boasts ATP 250 and ATP 500 titles from 2024, is now set for what is arguably the most important match of his career against Rune, following Rune’s semi-final victory over Daniil Medvedev.
