Jack Draper’s Miami Open match against Jakub Mensik descended into anarchy as hundreds of Brazilian fans erupted in rage at a change of schedule.
The match after Draper vs Mensik – which the British No 1 ended up losing 7-6, 7-6 – was supposed to be Brazilian sensation Joao Fonseca against Ugo Humbert of France.
The Grandstand court is open to any ground pass holder and so had been packed for most of the day with Brazilians waiting to watch their 18-year-old sensation.
Meanwhile, the main Stadium court had been progressing quickly and so organisers had space to slot an extra match in before the night session.
Extremely unwisely. they chose to move Fonseca vs Humbert.
You did not have to be the Kaiser Chiefs to predict a riot. How could the organisers not have realised what would occur?
Jack Draper (left) is out of the Miami Open after losing in straight sets to Jakub Mensik (right)
Their game on Saturday, which Mensik won 7-6 7-6, was briefly suspended due to angry fans
Hundreds of Brazilian fans were there to see Joao Fonseca, only for his match to be moved
The change of schedule was announced to the fans on Grandstand with Mensik leading 4-3 in the second set and all hell broke loose.
Brazilian fans charged towards the exits booing loudly as they went. There were so many of them it took an age to get them cleared out and the booing only became more aggressive.
The umpire called the end of the changeover and Mensik had time to bang down one serve before Draper, quite correctly, pointed out that it was impossible to play in such conditions.
Play was delayed for five minutes until the green and gold was eventually cleared out. There was then a stampede over toward the main court, where fans were greeted by a sign saying they now had to upgrade their ground pass to a Stadium ticket by scanning a QR code and paying $10.
The end result was that Draper v Mensik finished in a flat and mostly empty stadium. Fonseca v Humbert – which would have been electric had it remained on Grandstand – began in a huge stadium around 20 per cent full as it took so long to get all the Brazilians ticketed up and seated.
What a ridiculous and wholly avoidable bungle.
The fans who stayed witnessed 19-year-old Czech Mensik sealing a fully deserved straight-sets win over Draper.
In his first match as a top 10 player and Masters champion, Draper was a little flat at times and his forehand lacked the lethality of Indian Wells.
Mensik looked stunned after beating Draper in a match disrupted by furious Brazilian fans
But this result was far more down to Mensik’s brilliance and was perhaps Draper’s first taste of how players can raise their level against a top seed.
Remarkably, it was the first time Draper had lost a tour match to a man ranked beneath him since August.
This always looked like a tough draw and so it proved. Mensik is a Novak Djokovic protege but their gamestyles are much different.
The teenager’s serve is already among the most lethal in the world and his aggressive game is built around that. But he also rallies well and has some grace and feel around the net.
He made a nervous start to concede a 3-1 lead to Draper but came blazing back. In the tie-break, Draper missed a backhand and double faulted to concede two points on his own serve and Mensik aced his way to a set lead.
At 3-3 in the second set a borderline riot began as it was announced that Fonseca’s scheduled match against Humbert was being moved over to the main Stadium court.
Would the five minutes’ delay snap Mensik’s concentration? Not a bit of it. His serve was as impregnable as ever and he stepped up again in the tiebreak.
Earlier in the day Draper’s childhood friend and compatriot Jacob Fearnley was knocked out by No1 seed Alexander Zverev.
