&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Did Medvedev cheat? Draper's Indian Wells title defence ends amid hindrance call controversy - WATCH")
The Indian Wells tournament saw controversy break out as defending champion Jake Draper, who had beaten Novak Djokovic in the previous match, lost 6-1, 7-5 to Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-final on Thursday (Mar 12). Draper was accused of hindrance by chair umpire in the second set with the match poised at 5-5, 15-0 in Medvedev's favour. The chair umpire gave Medvedev, the former world 1, a point and Draper went on to lose the match. He would have los anyway, but the controversial call just made it a sour for him as well as Medvedev, who will take the win nonetheless.
What was the Draper vs Medvedev controversy at Indian Wells?
The first set was an absolute one-sider where Medvedev made small work of Draper's challenge who was visible tired from his sensational win over Djokovic, nearly 24 hours ago. In the second set, the match was at 5-5 as Draper tried mount a comeback in a bid to defend his title. Already 0-15 behind, Draper and Medvedev played a rally and a ball hit the net chord before falling into Medvedev's side of court. The Brit wavived his hands in the air, Medvedev played the shot but the chair umpired called it hinderance. Draper protested but the umpire gave Medvedev a point to make the score 30-0 and Draper could not comeback from that. Have a look at the video of the controversial call below:
What did Medvedev say about the controversy?
After the match, Draper shook hands with Medvedev and the chair umpire as well, despite the crowd booing the Russian at the time of controversy.
"If you look at the first forehand I did after it happened, I think I could have done a better shot if there was no gesture from Jack," Medvedev told reporters after the match.
"Was I distracted big time? No. Do I feel good about it? Not really. But I also don't feel like I cheated or something. I got a bit distracted. I let it go and I let the umpire decide."
