Jack Draper: ‘Cheat’ jibes affected me mentally

British No 1 was lambasted over the controversial end to his win over Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Cincinnati Open

Great Britain’s new standard-bearer Jack Draper has revealed the agonies he experienced last week after a cheating storm blew up on social media, leaving him unable to think about anything else for four days.
The controversy, which was fanned by critical tweets by Andy Roddick and Nick Kyrgios, centered around an illegitimate winner that Draper hit against Canadian No1 Felix Auger-Aliassime in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters.
At the time, Draper was uncertain whether the ball had bounced down into the ground off his racket, or whether it had gone straight over the net. But the chair umpire, Greg Allensworth, thought that the shot had been a fair one.
Because the incident happened on match point, and there was no video-replay option available in Cincinnati, Allensworth had no choice but to award the victory to Draper.
THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL MATCH POINT EVER!!!WHAT JUST HAPPENED…? 😱#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/cxU4H2A4Af
“I was thinking about it for four days non-stop,” said Draper, who went down to a one-sided defeat against Holger Rune in the ensuing quarter-final just over a week ago.
“I was really upset by it. Something I think is more important than anything is respect, it’s honesty, it’s fair play and all this sort of stuff. I’ve done it on the tour before, where I’ve maybe given a second serve because there’s been a loud noise or something. And, you know, I always play by those things.
“But honestly, in that moment, I couldn’t do anything because I didn’t know – that was the honest truth of it. And I think anyone would be lying if they’re saying they’re not hurt by seeing a lot of comments saying ‘You’re a cheat, you’re a liar.’ And that ‘I would have done this, and I would have done that’. It’s hard in that situation to know what to do.”
It was not only no-name accounts on social media that criticised Draper. Former world No1 Roddick tweeted that “I feel like every time I’ve ever shanked a ball straight into the ground, I’ve known that I shanked it straight into the ground”, while the less-measured Kyrgios said: “Horrible call, but every player knows you know exactly where you hit it hahaha ridiculous stuff.”
Even at the time, Auger-Aliassime warned Draper that “it’s going to look ridiculous” when everyone was able to see the replay of the disputed shot. But despite a week’s discomfort and reflection, Draper still doesn’t see how he could have done anything else.
“Obviously, on the slow mo, when you watch it from the side, it’s very clear it’s an illegal shot,” he said. “But when you’re in the moment and you serve out wide and the guy’s hit a 95mph ball at your feet, you just put a racket down and I didn’t know what happened. I looked at the umpire straightaway. I think I took a swipe at it, because I thought it was going in the bottom of the net, and then it hit the net and went over. It was just like a split-second of madness.
“Obviously ex-players or players talking about it hurts more than someone at a local club saying, ‘Ah, I would have definitely known what had happened.’ But also, it’s freedom of speech. It was all I thought about for a few days.
“What should I have done? Should I have asked one of the fans to show me their phone, slow-mo replay? It’s obviously a lot of keyboard warriors out there who want to hide behind their phone and call you all sorts of stuff. And I know the person I am. I know my truth at the end of the day. So if someone wants to say something, or someone doesn’t like me because of it, then that’s their problem.
“I think, overall, it’s a good experience for everyone, and a good way of showing that we really do need VAR technology and hope that this situation doesn’t happen again, so that tennis is completely fair. It’s good for me to go through this almost, and understand that people are going to be quick to jump on your back when you make a mistake. I’m not saying I did make a mistake, but obviously people questioned my integrity. I was definitely hurt by it.”
In theory, the same situation should not recur at the US Open over the next few days. There is a video-replay option on eight of the 16 courts, including Court Five – which is the stadium where Draper has been scheduled to play China’s Zhang Zhizhen on Tuesday afternoon.
Having said that, accessing the right replays in good time is not always a seamless process, and there remains a chance that tennis’s version of VAR could suffer the same sort of teething problems as the Premier League’s.
Returning to Draper, he confirmed on Saturday that he has parted company with his “supercoach” Wayne Ferreira – the former world No 6 from South Africa – after four months, and will revert to working solely with previous incumbent James Trotman.
“Obviously Wayne coming on board was really a good decision, a decision based on his value as a coach and obviously his experience as a player,” said Draper, who has brought a much more aggressive approach to the match court since Ferreira encouraged him to use his height and power to greater effect. “But I’d never had that kind of team dynamic before where I’ve got two different voices and two different coaches.
“I always wanted Trots to be the one leading what I was doing. And I just felt like it was not as simple as I liked. I wanted one voice in my team. That being said, my time with Wayne was amazing. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve got a lot of value from him. I think he’s an amazing guy, and someone who will continue to be a friend.”