Jack Draper says hindrance call in loss to Daniil Medvedev was ‘pretty harsh’

Jack Draper accepted he lost “fair and square” to Daniil Medvedev despite a controversial penalty for hindrance in his quarter-final at Indian Wells.

The 24-year-old defending champion, looking understandably weary from his exploits in beating Novak Djokovic less than 24 hours earlier, went down 6-1 7-5 to the former world number one.

The decisive moment came at 5-5 and 0-15 in the second set when umpire Aurelie Torte decided to award Medvedev a point following a video review after Draper had raised his arms at a disputed line call and was deemed to have distracted his opponent. Medvedev went on to seal a crucial break.

The California crowd made their feelings clear as Medvedev was booed at the change of ends and after sealing victory a short time later, although Draper shook hands with both Medvedev and Torte before leaving the court.

The Briton was not satisfied with the judgement but did not dispute the result, telling BBC Sport: “First of all, Daniil was the stronger player fair and square.

“It’s a difficult situation for the ref. I don’t think I did enough to hinder him but, at the end of the day, I did make a slight thing with my hands. On one hand, I get it but on the other I don’t think it was enough to distract Daniil.

“If he had missed the next ball and it was very clear that I had hindered him, then I would get it.

“I think he’s played the rules quite well. The rally carried on and I was able to win the point so I don’t think I should have lost the point. I think it’s pretty harsh.”

Medvedev made it clear he had done nothing against the rules, despite the crowd’s opprobrium.

“Was I distracted big time? No. Was I distracted a bit? Yes,” he said.

“Is it enough to win the point? I don’t know. If you look on the first forehand I do after it happened, I think I could have done a better shot if there was no gesture from Jack.

“Do I feel good about it? Not really, but I also don’t feel like I cheated. I let the referee decide.”

British interest in the singles came to an end as Cameron Norrie went down 6-3 6-4 to Carlos Alcaraz.

The British number two fought gamely against the world number one but was eventually outclassed.

Norrie struggled to land a blow on the Alcaraz serve in the early stages and the 30-year-old was eventually broken in the sixth game of the contest.

Surprisingly that led to a temporary lapse of concentration from the Spaniard, who was broken back to love only to then force a third straight break before wrapping up the opening set.

Norrie gained an early break in the second set but his own service problems saw Alcaraz haul his way back in front.

Norrie saved the first three match points he faced but Alcaraz duly converted the fourth to set up a semi-final showdown with Medvedev.

In the women’s singles, Elena Rybakina overcame Jessica Pegula in straight sets and will face Elina Svitolina in the last four.