
There are calls for chair umpires to avoid interfering during points after Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Draper's Indian Wells semi-final was embroiled in controversy.
A bizarre beginning to the match saw Draper win the opening set 6-1 before Alcaraz, bidding to achieve three straight titles in the Californian desert, turned the tables to bagel his British opponent.
Although forced to serve out the match a second time, Draper held his nerve to reach his first-ever Masters 1000 final.
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However, there was a critical turning point in the third set when locked at 1-1 15-15, when Draper was deemed to lose the point after a 'not up' call by umpire Mohamed Lahyani.
A confused Draper requested a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review, with Lahyani telling Draper: "Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm too quick. Let's see."
Replays showed the ball didn't bounce twice.
"This is why I don't think the umpire should intervene," said one commentator. "Why don't we just play the point out to conclusion and then review the point when it's finished? Now we're in a mess."
But the drama didn't end there, because after Lahyani deemed the point to be replayed, Draper argued that he should've won the point due to hinderance not having an impact on Alcaraz's shot at the net.
Another review materialised, with Draper again winning his challenge to win the point and go 15-30 up.
In what was great sportsmanship shown by both players, Draper approached the net to ask Alcaraz if the 'not up' call didn't affect his shot, with the world No.2 Spaniard admitting that it didn't despite the umpire clearly announcing 'not up' during his shot.
Draper won the next two points as he broke to 15 to gain momentum for the majority of the deciding set.
The unique situation was a head scratcher for tennis fans, with one writing on X: "Draper robbed initially, but then it wasn't fair on Alcaraz because [Lahyani] hindered him with the call of not up. Poor umpiring and video review skills there, and Alcaraz is down a break."
"Alcaraz is too nice", another person commented, with a different point of view stating: "Alcaraz would never have won that point, let's be realistic."
"Scandalous" was the word used by a separate fan.
The victory ensures Draper will enter the top-10 for the first time in his career, as he prepares to take on Denmark's Holger Rune, who defeated Daniil Medvedev in the earlier semi-final.
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