Alcaraz Says Controversial Video Review In Draper Loss 'Didn't Affect' Him
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Carlos Alcaraz was part of a slightly controversial moment during his loss at the 2025 Indian Wells Open, and he explained how he saw the situation after the match.
Alcaraz won't join Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on the list of players who managed to win the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells three times in a row.
The young Spaniard lost to Jack Draper in the semi-finals of the tournament, and it was obviously a disappointing loss for the 21-year-old player. It was maybe even more disappointing because of a slightly controversial moment at the start of the third set.
The score was tied at 1-1 in both sets and games in the third set. It was also tied at 15-15 on Alcaraz's serve. During a relatively long rally, Alcaraz tried to catch his opponent off-guard by playing his favorite forehand drop shot.
Draper chased down the ball, and it seemed that he got to in time, but the umpire of the match, Mohamed Lahyani, called the ball "not up." That means that, according to the Swedish umpire, the Brit didn't play the ball before it bounced the second time.
Convinced that he got to the ball in time, Draper requested a video review, which was luckily available at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The video review showed that he got to the ball, in fact, on time.
However, Lahyani told the players to replay the point. But Draper remembered that Alcaraz played the following ball out, which means that, in his mind, he should have won the point. At the same time, Lahyani made the "not up" call before Alcaraz hit his shot, so the point should have been correctly replayed.
Still, a second video review followed, and the umpire overruled his previous call, giving the point to Draper. That moment might have decided the match. After previously winning seven out of the eight games played, Alcaraz lost the following two points, and he was broken for the first time in the third set.
The four-time Grand Slam champion ultimately lost the match 1-6, 6-0, 4-6, but after his loss, Alcaraz refused to blame it on the video review. He claimed it didn't affect him at all.
"Well, not really. I mean, I didn't see if it was one bounce or two bounces at the beginning. So, I was just waiting for the review. I mean, and after, with the second review, it was in the middle of the point or after I hit it, so I wasn't sure enough."
"So I didn't hear while I was hitting the ball, but I wasn't sure enough to say something. And waiting for the ball reviews, they didn't bother me at all. I mean, that way it was normal for the review, so all I can say is Jack came, he played much better than me. That point didn't affect my play at all."
