Jack Draper called out by famous rapper as Cincinnati Open row rumbles on

Posted by Admin August 18, 2024 Tennis

The controversial ending to Jack Draper’s match against Felix Auger-Aliassime has been the talk of the Cincinnati Open over the last two days.

The British No. 1’s win was overshadowed by a contentious match point, as Auger-Aliassime argued Draper’s ball hit the ground before going over the net. But the umpire ruled that it was a legal shot.

The divisive call has now extended beyond the tennis world as American rapper Pusha T waded into the row, making a public dig at Draper.

As Draper served for the match at 5-4 40-30, he appeared to shank the ball as he hit it for a drop shot. The umpire announced that it was a “fair shot” and called it game, set and match to the Brit. But Auger-Aliassime thought the ball made contact with the ground before going over the net.

With no video review available to officials on court, the original call stood. Draper said he was looking at Auger-Aliassime and didn’t know whether he shanked the ball. The 22-year-old told his opponent he would replay the shot if the umpire or supervisor confirmed the ball hit the ground but neither could rewatch it and confirm the Canadian’s claim.

The incident has caused uproar, sparking more calls for VAR technology to be available in tennis. Some have criticised Draper for not replaying the point or awarding it to Auger-Aliassime. And Pusha T has become the latest public figure to join the pile-on.

“Yes @felixtennis you were robbed…great way to keep your composure,” he tweeted. The 47-year-old then seemingly took aim at Draper, adding: “A bad call can be innocent, but lying and not being accountable for a missed shot knowing the world is going to replay this is a huge character flaw. #DoBetter”.

The Trouble on My Mind rapper knows his tennis – he attended the US Open last year. And he is no stranger to beef. He famously feuded with Drake and, in 2018, dropped a diss track revealing that the Canadian artist had a secret child.

After Pusha’s strong response to the match point, Draper won’t want to be the next one to get name-dropped in a song. The world No. 28 has already shown where his loyalties lie in the music world. Last year, he shared a video of himself singing the Drake and Giggs song KMT in Andy Murray’s car.

Immediately after the match, Draper addressed the divisive ending during an ATP interview. “I was too busy looking at him. I didn’t see what happened. I looked at the umpire straightaway to see if he called a double bounce or not,” he said.

“As a player, I’m trying to focus on what I’m doing, I can’t make that call if I’m not 100 per cent. I said when the supervisor came on that if he said it was a double bounce and that he saw it clearly, I would have 100 per cent replayed the point.”

But Pusha isn’t the only one who has questioned the Brit. Nick Kyrgios took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to say: “Mate. Horrible call, but every player knows you know exactly where you hit it hahaha ridiculous stuff.” Draper has not addressed the incident since. He went on to lose to Holger Rune in the quarter-final.