"We recall it two decades later": Tennis journalist throws down challenge to Jack Draper over double bounce dispute controversial in Cincinnati Open win

Tennis journalist Jon Wertheim has challenged Britain’s Jack Draper about taking a ‘high road’ in the ball bounce dispute during the Cincinnati Open. During the round 16 clash, there was a controversy about the double bounce at the match point.

The replay showed that Draper hit the volley after the second bounce, but by then, the chair umpire had already announced that the point was legal and that the British tennis star had won the match against Canada’s Felix Auger Aliassime with a score of 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. In a video posted on the social media platform X—previously known as Twitter—Draper can be heard saying that he is not sure about the incident as he was looking at the ball.

"I might look like an idiot now because people say I'm not being fair but I was looking at him," said Draper in the video. "If you were to tell me that it hit the floor, I'd play the point again. I would play the point again but I don't know. That's why I said about the replay earlier. Felix, if he says to me right now that the ball hit the ground and he saw it on the TV, I would play the point again.”

In a post on his official account on the social media platform X, a famous tennis journalist challenged Draper to take a higher ground after the incident. In the post, he also mentioned an incident involving former world number one Andy Roddick. "Roddick plays a forgettable match in Rome on clay. He concedes a point after seeing the mark. A few day later, Frank Deford is doing an essay about it. (See below) And we recall it two decades later. Esp. when replay exists, players shouldn't be put in this situation. But they are. So why not go high road?" he wrote.

Draper is set to face Denmark’s Holger Rune in the quarterfinal. He booked his place in the last-eight after beating France’s Gael Monfils with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.