At the 2024 Cincinnati Open, controversy resurfaced again when Felix Auger-Aliassime’s and Jack Draper’s third-round match ended in a highly contentious call. Auger-Aliassime and chair umpire Greg Allensworth got into a heated dispute over his decision to rule Draper’s matchpoint credible.
On August 16, at the 2024 Cincinnati Open, Draper and Auger-Aliassime engaged in a furious battle for a quarterfinal spot. After breaking the Brit’s serve to end the first set, the Canadian took a one-set lead. However, in the second set, the Brit answered back, levelling the scores.
In the seventh game of the third set, Draper broke Auger-Aliassime to take the lead for the first time in the match. Maintaining his lead, the British player served to end the match at 5-4 40-30.
Auger-Aliassime did not try to reach for the ball because he believed it had struck Draper’s racket, bounced off the court, and then trickled over the net. Chair umpire Greg Allensworth, however, decided that the shot was legitimate and gave Draper the victory and match point. Baffled by this choice, Auger-Aliassime moved fast to the net to face Allensworth.
Draper acknowledged that he was too focused on Auger-Aliassime to track the trajectory of his shot as the latter made his case to Allensworth.
Draper said: “I wasn’t looking.”
Auger-Aliassime replied: “Did you not see the ball bounce on the floor? He shanked it on the floor. What do you mean?”
While Auger-Aliassime maintained that he would appear insane for the absurd call when the shot’s replay was viewed, Allensworth maintained that he did not witness the ball bounce on Draper’s side of the court.
Then, angry Auger-Aliassime told Allensworth: “You’re going to get out now and it’s going to be everywhere. I’m serious. It’s going to look ridiculous. It’s gonna be crazy. And I know it’s not his place to make that call, it’s a match-win for him, but it’s your place to make that call.”
Draper in Cincinnati, ranking, and results in 2024
Now the world no.28, Draper has achieved an overall 25-16 win-loss record in 2024. Draper is now having a run in Cincinnati where he bested the world no.89 Jaume Antoni Munar Clar 7-5 3-6 7-6(5), the world no.11 Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6 6-4 7-5 and the world no.19 Felix Auger-Aliassime 5-7 6-4 6-4.
Jack Draper will face the world no.363 Lucas Poullain in the final. Their head to head is 2-0 for Poullain.
Jack conquered 1 title in 2024 in Stuttgart. The Brit reached the final in Adelaide (Adelaide International).
Auger-Aliassime in Cincinnati, ranking, and results in 2024
Ranked world no.19, the Canadian has a composed 27-20 record in 2024. Felix is playing at the moment in Cincinnati where he toppled the world no.79 Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-3 6-1 and the world no.8 Casper Ruud 6-3 6-1.
Felix Auger-Aliassime will take on the world no.4 Alexander Zverev in the Round Robin on Sunday at 2:00 pm on CENTER COURT. Their current record is 6-2 for Zverev.
The Canadian was the finalist in Madrid (Mutua Madrid Open).
Felix won 5 titles in his career: all of them conquered on hard courts. (See the list of his titles)
Auger-Aliassime is scheduled to compete next at the U.S. Open (U.S. Open). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 26th of August.
Jack Draper and Felix Auger-Aliassime squared off only on 2 occasions. The head to head is 2-0 for Draper. Previously, the last time they played each other, Jack Draper won 5-7 6-4 6-4 in the 3rd round in Cincinnati (Western & Southern Open) on the 16th of August 2024.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.
