“Joke of an umpire” – Chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani accused of making controversial calls in Indian Wells semifinal between Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Draper

Jack Draper confronted chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani for his not-up call during his clash with Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells semifinals.

“Joke of an umpire” – Chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani accused of making controversial calls in Indian Wells semifinal between Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Draper

Chair umpire's not up call sparked controversy during Carlos Alcaraz's semifinal match against Jack Draper at Indian Wells (Image via ATP/X)

Controversy erupted during Jack Draper‘s semifinal clash with Carlos Alcaraz at the Indian Wells Masters. Draper locked horns with the Spaniard on Saturday (March 15) and snapped his 16-match win streak in the tournament in an hour and 44 minutes with scoreline of 6-1, 0-6, 6-4.

The incident involving chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani happened when Alcaraz was serving and the scores were locked at 1-1 in the third set with both winning 15 points each. During a tense rally from the baseline, Alcaraz tried to hit a winner through a drop shot.

YouTube video

Draper sprinted forward just in time to return it, following which Alcaraz sent the ball outside. Chair umpire Lahyani called ‘not up’, thinking Alcaraz’s drop shot bounced twice before Draper could hit it.

FS Video

Draper approached the umpire to ask for a video review. Lahyani realized his mistake, for the ball had bounced once, and asked to replay the point, thinking that his call perhaps affected Alcaraz.

Draper was adamant that he deserved to win the point. He asked for VAR to confirm that the not-up call did not hinder Alcaraz from hitting the shot, that the two-time Indian Wells champion was “nowhere near it and he missed the ball“. The point then was given to the Brit and Alcaraz too accepted the umpire’s decision as he said it did not hinder him, so he didn’t challenge the call.

Watch the video here:

Netizens slam chair umpire for chaotic scene during Carlos Alcaraz’s match against Jack Draper

Tennis fans on social media criticized Mohamed Lahyani for ruining the rhythm of both Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Draper. They also think the point rather should have been given to Alcaraz, thinking that Lahyani’s call did hinder the four-time Grand Slam champion. Some also lauded Alcaraz for displaying sportsmanship and admitting that it was his own mistake that the ball landed outside and had nothing to do with the umpire’s call.

Jack Draper (2)
Jack Draper (Image via ATP/X)

Check out the tweets here:

Draper, who now is 2-3 against the Murcia native, has now reached his first final at Indian Wells. It was his second victory over a top 5 player this week, following his win over World No.4 Taylor Fritz in the fourth round. He is set to lock horns with Holger Rune, who knocked out the two-time tournament finalist Daniil Medvedev. Draper has faced Rune just once, but he lost that match.

They met in last year’s Cincinnati Masters quarterfinals, which the Dane won in straight sets. Sunday’s match will also be the first final between players born in the 2000s above the ATP 500 category.

While Rune is searching for his first title of the season, and his first since the 2023 BMW Open, Draper, who arrived at Indian Wells following his Qatar Open final defeat to Andrey Rublev, last won a title at the 2024 Vienna Open in October. Win or no win in the final, Draper will be a top 10 player for the first time when the rankings will get updated on Monday.

Carlos Alcaraz fails to complete a three-peat at Indian Wells

Alcaraz arrived at Indian Wells to chase for his third consecutive title in the California desert. He won the titles in the two previous years with straight-set wins over Daniil Medvedev.

Carlos Alcaraz (6)
Carlos Alcaraz (Image via ATP/X)

Had he won, he would have joined five-time Indian Wells champions Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on the list of players with three back-to-back Indian Wells titles. Alcaraz would have also become the first player born in 1991 or later to win an ATP event three times in a row. After failing to reach the final, he dropped 600 points but it won’t affect his rankings as he will remain World No.3.