Sky Sports commentators were forced to apologise for a technical error that hit at a crucial moment in Jack Draper‘s match at the Paris Masters.
The British No. 1 faced Alex de Minaur with a spot in the quarter-final on the line.
Draper took an early break lead but the ninth seed broke back as he served for the set and the sound suddenly cut out.
Draper faced De Minaur for the third time this year. They’d split the wins in their two meetings in 2024, with the Aussie coming out on top in Acapulco before Draper got revenge at the US Open.
There was a lot on the line when they faced off at the Paris Masters. Both men were looking to keep their hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals alive. De Minaur is much closer in the race and will enter the top eight by reaching the quarter-final.
Meanwhile, Draper needed to win to have any chance at staying alive in the race to Turin. The world No. 15 came into their round-of-16 clash on a seven-match winning streak after picking up the Vienna Open title.
And he pounced first, getting the first break of the match to lead 4-2. But momentum suddenly shifted as Draper served for the set at 5-3 and De Minaur broke for the first time.
With tensions rising in the deep end of the first set, the sound from the court suddenly cut out on Sky Sports. Only the commentators could be heard, while the pictures from Paris were silent.
“Apologies if you’re having a few issues with the court effects,” Nick Lester said. “We’re doing all we can to rectify that.”
The audio returned as De Minaur levelled the score at 5-5. And it was perfect timing, as Draper broke again to steal the opening set 7-5 after 48 minutes.
The Australian ace started to raise his level in the second set, storming through to take it 6-2 and force a decider.
The Brit was seeking his third Masters 1000 quarter-final and his second in a row after reaching the last eight at the Cincinnati Open back in August. He was forced to miss the Shanghai Masters due to injury.
The 22-year-old scored an upset in the previous round, knocking out fifth seed Taylor Fritz on Wednesday night. Afterwards, he said: “It was difficult.
“I don’t think it was the cleanest tennis from either of us. We served pretty well but tough to get used to the conditions here in all honesty. But I thought I did a really good job of competing really hard. Taylor’s always a really tough battle.”