Jack Draper makes his feelings known on frustrated Brazilian fans disrupting his Miami Open clash after surprise rescheduling of Joao Fonseca's match

Jack Draper had to overcome a bizarre incident during his match against Jakub Mensík at the Miami Open as play was briefly halted due to jeers from the Brazilian fans in the stands. Draper went on to lose the match 6-7 (2), 6-7 (3) to make an early exit from the tournament, merely a week after winning the Indian Wells Masters.

The incident occurred when Draper was leading 4-3 in the second set. At this point, it was announced that Joao Fonseca's match against Ugo Humbert, which was supposed to be played next on the same court after Draper’s match, had instead been shifted to the main court.

The Brazilian fans, who were eagerly anticipating their star player in action, were upset as they left the court and booed the announcement. Draper tried to restart the game but the chair umpire asked him to wait as the Brazilian fans continued to express their frustration.

Reflecting on the incident after the match, Jack Draper said he understood why the Brazilian fans were frustrated.

“I didn't really know what was going on at first. It was getting quite loud and couldn't hear the ball being hit. Those Brazilian fans had been in the stadium waiting for him (Fonseca) to play all day, and then obviously changed the court. It's not ideal. I can understand their frustration and yeah, we had to stop for a little bit,” he said.

He continued:

“I just hope they were able to get on the court. I think it's so good that, especially at this tournament where I don't feel like the crowd attendance is amazing. If they were not able to get on that centre court, it'd be pretty tough on them, and I can understand the frustration to be fair. But yeah, I was just confused as to what was going on. But we waited for a few minutes and then it was fine."

Mensik regrouped well when play resumed as he prevailed in the eventual tie-breaker to cause an upset in the men’s draw. The Czech pulled off a remarkable performance to beat Draper and make it to the third round of a Masters 1000 event for the third time in his career.

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Serena Williams’ former coach says Jack Draper is a future Wimbledon champion

Jack Draper poses with the Indian Wells Masters trophy. Source: Getty

While Jack Draper had a poor run at the Miami Opena and made a first-round exit, he made headlines last week when he won the Indian Wells Masters. It was a sublime campaign for the Englishman as he beat the likes of Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz and then Holger Rune in the final to clinch his career’s biggest title.

The congratulatory messages have been pouring in since his win at Indian Wells and he even received a message from Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton.

Among those to laud praise on Draper was Serena Williams’ former coach Rennae Stubbs, who felt the Englishman had what it took to win the most prestigious Grand Slam - Wimbledon.

"Jack Draper is going to win Wimbledon!" Stubbs wrote on X.

Jack Draper, now on a career-high ranking of World No. 7, will look to put behind the Miami Open loss and look to bounce back on the Tour and live up to his billing of a "future Wimbledon champion."