You don’t shake hands with a closed fist! Handshake controversy yet again erupts in the tennis world. It happened during Felix Auger-Aliassime‘s (CAN) match against Great Britain’s Jack Draper in the 2024 Davis Cup Round Robin match. This was the first time both of these tennis stars had met each other since their infamous controversy at the Cincinnati Masters. Felix Auger-Aliassime won that match 7-6(8), 7-5, and with this result, GBR has now been knocked out of the tournament. However, their cold handshake after the match has taken away all the limelight from this match!
It all started in the third set of their R16 clash in Cincinnati when the chair umpire, Gregory Allensworth, gave a controversial call in favor of the Brit. On match point, Jack Draper attempted a serve-and-volley, but he mis-hit the ball completely. The ball bounced on his side before clipping the net and landing in FAA’s court. Commentators spotted that, and even the spectators called for a “Replay,” but the chair umpire ruled it as a fair shot. Felix Auger-Aliassime was utterly disappointed with that outcome, and perhaps the flavor of bitterness got a bit into this match as well.
There were several intense moments in this epic Davis Cup clash. However, their post-match handshake has now become the talk of the town. Even the commentators in this match were heard saying, “Not the warmest handshake at the net.“
The incident in Cincinnati sparked a major debate in the tennis world, with some big names like Aryna Sabalenka calling for the introduction of video replays. Others, like Nick Kyrgios, took a jibe at Draper, saying, “I couldn’t have made that call myself.” Further, the Aussie tennis star went on to add, “Mate. Horrible call, but every player knows you know exactly where you hit it hahaha ridiculous stuff.” He was quite disappointed with the way Jack Draper handled that incident.
However, later on, Draper admitted that it was an “illegal shot.“ He said, “When we saw the replay, it was clearly an illegal shot.“ The 22-year-old British tennis star also revealed that he struggled to sleep after that incident. Criticisms rang in his ears, and he explained how difficult it was for him over those 4-5 days. He has never faced such criticisms before. What did both the players say, though, after this recent match at the Davis Cup?
“Gutted” – Jack Draper is quite disappointed with his defeat against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Davis Cup match
Jack Draper entered this match knowing that he could do nothing to make Great Britain qualify for the QF. So, a sense of frustration was always there in his mind right from the word ‘go’ in this epic clash. He gave a tough fight to the Canadian in the first set, but during the tiebreaker of the first set, his anger and frustration reached their peak. Draper was clearly angry at how things went on during that phase of the match, and he was even spotted smashing his racquet on the court multiple times.
Perhaps these are some of the things that fueled the fire and resulted in that ‘cold handshake’ apart from what happened in Cincinnati a month ago. After his defeat to Felix Auger-Aliassime, the Brit came up with an Instagram post in which he wrote, “Thank you Manchester!!! Gutted we couldn’t get the win, but it means so much to represent my country. I’ll have many more opportunities I hope!“
Even the Canadian shared his thoughts on this high-intensity clash during his post-match interview. FAA said, “High level, high intensity. Gave our best for ourselves and our countries. We had already qualified but Jack and I are trying our best to win and give it our best. I think we were both quite tired.” Surely, this thing isn’t stopping here! Are you excited to see them take on each other yet again at some tournament this season?
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