Draper beaten after controversial hindrance call

Jack Draper (right) and Daniil Medvedev had a lengthy conversation at the net after the match

Jack Draper was penalised with a controversial hindrance call as Daniil Medvedev ended the Briton's Indian Wells title defence in the quarter-finals.

Draper fell to a 6-1 7-5 defeat by former world number one Medvedev, but the Russian was booed after the tense moment midway through the second set.

World number 14 Draper, serving at 5-5 0-15, briefly stretched his arms out wide during a rally to signal he thought Medvedev's forehand had gone long.

The rally continued for another seven shots before Medvedev netted a backhand.

Two-time finalist Medvedev then asked umpire Aurelie Tourte for a video review to see whether Draper had been guilty of hindrance - making either an action or a noise to disturb an opponent.

After watching the replay several times on her tablet, Tourte told Draper she was ruling against him as "you did something different in the rally than you would normally do" and awarded Medvedev the point.

Loud boos rang around Stadium Court 2 as the decision was announced, with Draper slipping to 0-30 on serve.

His next point - an ace - was greeted with delight by the crowd, but he was subsequently broken and Medvedev completed victory in the next game.

The two players had a long, but cordial, chat at the net as they shook hands, with Medvedev saying "If you're mad at me, I'm sorry" and Draper responding "I'm not at all - but I don't think it distracted you enough".

There were more jeers when the stadium announcer shouted "Let's hear it for Daniil Medvedev" before the on-court interview.

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Draper said afterwards he was not angry with Medvedev and did not blame him.

"First of all, Daniil was the stronger player fair and square," the 24-year-old told BBC Sport.

"It’s a difficult situation for the ref. I don't think I did enough to hinder him, but at the end of the day I did make a slight thing with my hands.

"On one hand, I get it, but on the other, I don't think it was enough to distract Daniil.

"If he had missed the next ball and it was very clear that I had hindered him, then I would get it.

"I think he's played the rules quite well. The rally carried on and I was able to win the point so I don't think I should have lost the point. I think it's pretty harsh."

Medvedev, who goes on to play Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals, said he did not feel "good" about the incident but denied he had cheated.

"Was I distracted big time? No," the world number 11 said.

"Was I distracted a bit? Yes. Is it enough to win the point? I don't know.

"If you look on the first forehand I do after it happened, I think I could have done a better shot if there was no gesture from Jack.

"Do I feel good about it? Not really, but I also don't feel like I cheated. I let the referee decide."

Regardless of the controversy, it was a dominant display from Medvedev. It took Draper 49 minutes to create a break point - and Medvedev subsequently sent three aces flying past him to hold serve.

Draper was playing in only his second ATP event since last August's US Open and began to look very tired in the closing stages.

He will fall from 14 to 26 in the world rankings on Monday and will lose the British number one spot to Cameron Norrie.

Draper admitted he had not been able to recover sufficiently from the physically and emotionally draining third set tie-break victory over Novak Djokovic on Wednesday evening.

"If someone was to say that I was going to be here in the quarter-finals after what I've been through the last nine months - only myself, and my family and my team know how much it affected me - that was enough for me," Draper added.

"Today I ran out of steam and I wasn't able to compete again a day later with one of the best players in the world, and that's just totally normal."

Norrie was beaten 6-3 6-4 by Alcaraz in the final quarter-final on Thursday.

Since February 2025, players have been able to request a video review at Masters 1,000 events for decisions such as foul shots, hindrances and scoring errors.

Hindrance can occur in two ways - either through a corrected call by an official or an on-court incident.

The ATP rulebook states that any distractions caused by a player "result in the loss of a point" regardless of if the hindrance was intentional or unintentional.

It also states that umpires must take care "to ensure rulings do not result in providing a player with two opportunities to win a point".

A deliberate hindrance is defined as "the player meant to do what it was that caused the hindrance or distraction".

Aryna Sabalenka was called for hindrance for a change in her grunt during her Australian Open semi-final against Elina Svitolina in January.

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