Britain’s Jack Draper was helped by a controversial video assistant referee-style call to earn a coming-of-age win over Carlos Alcaraz and reach the biggest final of his career.
Draper, 23, stunned four-time major champion Alcaraz with a 6-1 0-6 6-4 victory in a dramatic semi-final at Indian Wells.
The British number one, who served out the match at the second attempt, will move into the world’s top 10 for the first time in his career as a result.
The pivotal moment of a bizarre match in California came when England’s Draper was rescued by video technology in the third game of the deciding set – and went on to break Alcaraz’s serve.
With the score at 1-1, and the game 15-15 on Alcaraz’s serve, the ball was adjudged by umpire Mohamed Lahyani to have bounced twice before Draper reached it.
It was clearly a wrong call from the official, but players are now able to use video technology to challenge decisions about double bounces in Indian Wells.
After instantly asking for a replay, Draper’s challenge was successful and allowed Lahyani to overturn the original decision.
He was given the point for a 15-30 lead and, with momentum back in his favour, secured a break which ultimately proved the difference.
The left-hander goes on to face Denmark’s Holger Rune in Sunday’s final at the Masters 1000 event.
Rune, ranked 13th in the world, reached the fourth Masters final of his career with a 7-5 6-4 victory over Russian fifth seed Daniil Medvedev.
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