World No.7 Jack Draper was beaten in straight sets by Jakub Mensik in the second round of the Miami Open in a match that was disrupted by angry supporters in the stands
Jack Draper was knocked out of the Miami Open by Jakub Mensik after angry scenes disrupted his first match since winning the Indian Wells title. The British No.1 was beaten 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-3) by his Czech opponent in the second round after a brief pause due to crowd trouble.
Draper’s match had been watched by a swathe of Brazilian fans, who had been in the stands waiting to see their compatriot Joao Fonseca take on France’s Ugo Humbert, which was due on afterwards. However, after waiting for hours, it was then announced during the second set that Fonseca would play on the main court instead.
As they grudgingly got up to move, many of those supporters booed as they left, prompting confusion for Draper and Mensik, who had been trying to serve. The two players tried to play on, but eventually were forced to stop their match by the umpire in order to allow the disgruntled fans to leave.
“I didn’t really know what was going on at first,” Draper told Sky Sports. “Obviously it was getting quite loud – I couldn’t hear the ball being hit. Those Brazilian fans had been in the stadium waiting for him to play all day and then obviously they changed the court. It’s not ideal, I can understand their frustration.
READ MORE: Emma Raducanu’s axed coach makes ‘very poor’ comment and reveals her father’s viewREAD MORE: Furious tennis stars threaten to fight each other in car park as umpire separates them
“We had to stop for a little bit. I just hope they were able to get onto the court. It’s so good, as especially at this tournament where I don’t feel like the crowd attendance is amazing, that if they weren’t able to get onto that centre court that would be really tough on them.
“I can understand their frustration, to be fair. I was just confused as to what was going on, but we waited for a few minutes and then it was fine.”
Draper came into the tournament riding the high of the biggest win of his career at Indian Wells, which moved him up to a career-high ranking of world No.7 but couldn’t summon the same levels of performance in the Miami humidity. By contrast, 19-year-old Mensik, the world No.54, dominated the two tie-breaks, smashing down 21 aces to overpower his opponent.
Draper, 23, wasn’t the only top performer from Indian Wells to crash out, with the other semi-finalists from that tournament – Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune – all beaten.
The Brit started well, breaking Mensik in his first service time, but the talented Czech roared back and maintained his level throughout to claim the scalp of the No.6 seed.
Elsewhere, there was also disappointment for British No.3 Jacob Fearnley, who was beaten 6-2 6-4 by top seed Alexander Zverev. Despite losing in one hour, 14 minutes, the Scot will jump above Cam Norrie to become the British No.2 when the rankings are updated.
