Furious crowd boos as British tennis star crashes out of tournament following highly controversial umpire call

JACK DRAPER and Daniil Medvedev‘s clash at the Indian Wells Open ended in loud boos from the crowd following a controversial call from the umpire.

Brit star Draper, 24, surrendered his Indian Wells crown in the quarter-finals after losing 6-1 7-5 to Medvedev, 30.

The Londoner briefly stretched his arms out wide during a rally to signal he thought his opponent’s forehand had gone long.

Draper‘s rally continued for another seven shots before the Russian star netted a backhand.

Medvedev then asked umpire Aurelie Tourte for a video review to determine whether his opponent had been guilty of hindrance, that is making either an action or a noise to disturb his rival.

After several replays, Tourte told Draper she was ruling against him as “you did something different in the rally than you would normally do”, thus his opponent was awarded the point.

Loud boos echoed around the court in California after the umpire’s decision.

There were even more jeers after the game when the stadium announcer stated: “Let’s hear it for Daniil Medvedev.”

The two tennis stars had a long but cordial chat at the net following the end of their match as they shook hands.

Medvedev said” “If you’re mad at me, I’m sorry.”

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Draper responded” “I’m not at all – but I don’t think it distracted you enough”.

The Brit confirmed he was not angry with Medvedev and did not blame him.

Draper told 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 said he did not feel “good” about the incident but insisted he didn’t cheat.

Medvedev said: “Was I distracted big time? No. Was I distracted a bit? Yes. 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.”