Controversy once again hit the 2024 Cincinnati Open when Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jack Draper’s third-round contest ended with a highly contentious call by the chair umpire. There was a prolonged argument between Auger-Aliassime and chair umpire Greg Allensworth over his call to judge Draper’s match point valid.
Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jack Draper were locked in a heated battle for the quarterfinal berth at the 2024 Cincinnati Open on August 16. The Canadian took the one-set advantage with a break of the Brit’s serve at the end of the first set, only for the latter to return the favor in the second set to equalize the score.
Draper took the lead in the contest for the first time by breaking Auger-Aliassime in the seventh game of the third set. The Brit held on to his lead and served for the match at 5-4 40-30. Auger-Aliassime managed to return the serve, and Draper attempted a volley that hit the net cord and trickled over to Auger-Aliassime’s side.
Auger-Aliassime thought that the ball hit Draper’s racket, then ricocheted off the court before trickling over the net and did not attempt to reach for it. However, chair umpire Greg Allensworth deemed the shot valid and awarded Draper the match point and the win. Auger-Aliassime was left puzzled by the decision and quickly approached the net to confront Allensworth.
Draper admitted that he did not follow his shot’s trajectory as he was focused on Auger-Aliassime while the latter pleaded his case to Allensworth.
“I wasn’t looking,” Jack Draper said.
“Did you not see the ball bounce on the floor? He shanked it on the floor. What do you mean?” Felix Auger-Aliassime questioned.
Allensworth insisted that he did not see the ball bounce on Draper’s side of the court, while Auger-Aliassime claimed that he would look “crazy” for the “ridiculous” call when the replay of the shot is watched.
“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,” an agitated Auger-Aliassime told Allensworth.
With the crowd at the Grandstand of the Lindner Family Tennis Center repeatedly chanting “replay,” the 24-year-old called the ATP supervisor on the court to intervene and possibly change the call, but to no avail. At the end of the five-minute altercation, Allensworth, who was involved in a controversy with Taylor Fritz earlier this week in Cincinnati, stayed firm on call, and Draper walked away with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win.
