Carlos Alcaraz Knocked Out Of Indian Wells By Jack Draper After Huge VAR Controversy
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Carlos Alcaraz's quest for a third consecutive Indian Wells Open title is over after losing to Jack Draper in a match that included a controversial moment involving the video review system, known as VAR.
Alcaraz defeated Francisco Cerundolo to progress to another semifinal in Indian Wells. The match was played in challenging conditions on a windy evening, but both men still managed to produce an entertaining contest.
The Spaniard has played his last three matches during the night session. Conditions at that time are significantly slower than during the day, and the wind has also tended to be stronger during the late matches.
That might have made Draper hopeful since the semifinal started in the afternoon. which Alcaraz was less used to. The Briton also undoubtedly took confidence from his exceptional level to reach the semifinal, including wins against Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton in the previous two rounds.
Draper showed his intent from the beginning of the match with a commanding hold in the opening game. By contrast, Alcaraz's serving performance in the first set was among the worst of the four-time Grand Slam champion's career.
The pre-match favorite landed less than 40% of first serves in the opening set. That meant his groundstrokes needed to be at their premium best to compete against his talented opponent.
Instead, Alcaraz's game was all over the place in the first set. His forehand, so often the Spaniard's biggest weapon, was particularly poor and leaked numerous unforced errors.
Draper needed just nine minutes to go 3-0 up. The crowd gave Alcaraz a loud and encouraging cheer when he won the fourth game to try to lift the 21-year-old and inspire him into playing the electrifying tennis he is known for.
That did not materialize in the rest of the first set. Draper did not face a single break point and secured another game on Alcaraz's serve to take the opener 6-1 and leave his illustrious opponent with a mountain to climb.
Alcaraz could not have played any worse in the opening set and sought to put it out of his mind. He went 40-0 up on serve in the first game of the set before losing four consecutive points to leave Draper with another break point.
However, the momentum changed entirely after Alcaraz saved it with a big serve before holding. Draper then saved three break points in the next game, but the pressure told and the former ATP world No. 1 got his first break of the contest.
The Briton's level fell dramatically after that. Draper seemed to be struggling for energy despite the temperatures not being that hot and Alcaraz raced through the remainder of the set to take it 6-0 and force a decider.
A pivotal moment occurred at 1-1, 15-15 in the third set. The umpire Mohamed Lahyani called a double bounce when Draper tried to make a drop shot. This year's 2025 Qatar Open runner-up immediately called for a video review.
The replay clearly showed Draper got to the ball in time. Lahyani announced that the point would be replayed after his mistake, but Draper felt it should be his point because Alcaraz hit the next shot wide.
Draper requested another video review to prove that Alcaraz missed his next shot. When the replay showed that, the umpire awarded the point to the 13th seed, putting him 30-15 up.
Alcaraz did not protest that decision. However, perhaps he should have since Lahyani's initial double bounce call came before he played his next shot. That meant the Spaniard could have legitimately argued the call distracted him.
Lahyani's decision to give Draper the point became even more important when Draper broke Alcaraz's serve. He then held to take a 3-1 lead, before the four-time Grand Slam champion held in the next game.
After the pair traded holds of serve, Alcaraz had several game points to hold again. Shockingly, he missed several easy shots, including an overhead, and Draper hit a backhand winner to break again and leave him serving for the match.
But the drama was not over. A combination of Draper becoming nervous, including hitting a double fault, and some blistering hitting from Alcaraz saw the Spaniard retrieve one of the breaks and reduce the deficit to 5-3.
Draper had a second chance after Alcaraz held. The 2024 US Open semifinalist showed outstanding courage to hold his nerve and serve out the biggest win of his career, sealing a 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 triumph.
Alcaraz said earlier in the tournament that he felt invincible in Indian Wells, but Draper has ended that. However, the match could have been different if Lahyani had ruled differently and not awarded Draper that point after the video reviews.
