"The joke tells itself" - Feliciano Lopez up in arms against media portrayal of Cincinnati Open controversy with Jack Draper & Felix Auger-Aliassime

Feliciano Lopez recently shared his opinion on the media coverage of the Jack Draper-Felix Auger-Aliassime controversy. The 2016 French Open men's doubles winner called out Jose Moron, the director of the Spanish news outlet Punto de Break due to his take on the recent controversy at the 2024 Cincinnati Open.

The director of Punto de Break, Moron posted a video about the Jack Draper and Felix Auger-Aliassime controversy on YouTube titled:

"ONE OF THE BIGGEST THEFTS IN THE HISTORY OF TENNIS: SHOULD THEY PUT THE VAR IN NOW?"

Former Spanish tennis player Lopez did not like how the media portrayed the controversy and painted the referee in a bad light. The current director of the Masters 1000 event Madrid Open called him out for the 'exaggerated' headline.

"How some of you like to contaminate public opinion through exaggerated and unrealistic headlines. The biggest robbery in the history of tennis? The joke tells itself! R16 from @CincyTennis and MP for Draper, I don't know if you took that into account before writing that," Lopez wrote (translated from Spanish).

He sided with the referees and said that it was difficult to make a judgment about such shots in a live match.

"I have seen and experienced thousands of plays like that first hand. It is practically impossible for the referee to be able to see it live. However, from the sofa at home and watching it repeated 100 times it is easier," he said.

The Spaniard added that drop shots are very difficult to judge even after watching replays.

"We can discuss whether they should have the possibility of seeing the replay instantly from the chair or from a room but talking about the theft of the century is absolutely disproportionate! How many times do we run to a drop shot and it is almost impossible to know if it has bounced twice? Even watching it in replay is not easy," he added.

Finally, he concluded that such hyperbolic headlines do not do any good to tennis.

"These headlines do no good. This is coming from a former tennis player and lover of the best sport in the world! Greetings," he concluded.

Moron responded to Lopez saying that the headline was his personal opinion, adding that it helped the video reach a mass audience. He even prompted the Spaniard to take a stand.

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Jack Draper and Felix Auger-Aliassime's controversy at the 2024 Cincinnati Open third round

Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jack Draper's 3R match at the Cincinnati Open 2024 was embroiled in a controversy (Image: Getty)

Controversy erupted when Jack Draper was leading Felix Auger-Aliassime 5-7, 6-4, 5-4 (40-30) and Draper was serving for the match. The Canadian returned his serve and the Brit attempted a volley, but the ball hit the net cord before landing on Auger-Aliassime's side.

The former World No. 6 believed that the ball had ricocheted off the floor and hence the point should have been his. He was walking back to his return position as the umpire Greg Allensworth awarded the point and the match in favor of the Brit.

Felix Auger-Aliassime was confused and went to try and sort it out with the umpire, but the latter stood firm on his decision. Draper, on the other hand, said that he did not see the ball as he was focused on his opponent.

The Canadian had a long chat with the umpire and also asked the supervisor to intervene, but to no respite as the match was called in favor of Draper.

Jack Draper lost to Holger Rune 4-6, 2-6 in the quarterfinals at the Cincinnati Open.