Jack Draper furiously smacked his racket into an advertising hoarding and appeared to hurt himself at Queen’s. Anger got the better of the British No. 1 in his semi-final defeat against Jiri Lehecka in London.
Neither player could be separated in the first 10 games of a tense deciding set. Both stars expertly held their serve until Draper began to struggle. Lehecka broke his opponent at 5-5, and Draper let out his rage as the game slipped away. A deep forehand by the Czech landed just inside the baseline, giving the Briton little hope of returning a shot. As Draper sprinted in an desperate and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to return the ball, he slid towards the advertising hoardings and smacked his racket into the electric boards.
An advert for sports equipment brand Dunlop appeared to flick off on the screen. Draper had clearly hit the board so hard that the technology momentarily broke.
As the 23-year-old walked away from the hoarding, he seemed to grimace in pain. It is unclear whether he hit the board so hard that he had hurt his hands. He continued the remainder of the match but lost 4-6 6-4 5-7.
Draper was given a code violation over the incident and was reprimanded by the umpire. He had received a warning earlier in the match after volleying a ball high into the crowd out of frustration. The world No. 4 had blown four break points in the third game of the second set and was disciplined for showing his anger.
He then aggressively whacked his racket into his ankle before continuing the match.
Lehecka may face Carlos Alcaraz in the Queen’s final if the Spaniard overcomes countryman Roberto Bautista Agut in his semi-final. In his win over Draper, the 23-year-old’s serve was pivotal in his victory.
“It means a lot. You don’t meet a player like Jack every day, he’s an amazing competitor. I know you’re favourite didn’t win today but I appreciate you being fair with me,” Lehecka told the BBC.
“It’s not easy to play that serve but I’ve been working on it for the last few weeks. I knew the transition from clay to grass I’d need to use it. I’m happy with it.”