Jack Draper has revealed he “couldn’t hear the ball” at times during his second-round defeat to Jakub Mensik at the Miami Open. The Brit lost in straight sets against his teenage opponent, during a match that was marred by crowd chaos.

The contest had been brought to a halt after hoards of Brazillian tennis fans in attendance to watch Joao Fonseca realised the teenager was playing on a different court. Fonseca, who would later in the day beat Ugo Humbert in straight sets, had been due to play on Draper’s court, but the match was moved to the main stadium at the last minute.

It came after the fans had been making quite the racket throughout Draper’s game – something his referenced in his post-match debrief. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “I didn’t really know what was going on it was getting quite loud, couldn’t really hear the ball being hit.

“I think those Brazilian fans had been in the stadium all day waiting for him [Fonseca] to play and then obviously they changed the court. It’s not ideal I can understand their frustration, we had to stop for a bit.”

However, he did have plenty of sympathy for the supporters who were out in their masses to support Fonseca. The 22-year-old continued: “It’s so good [the support], especially at this tournament where I don’t feel like the crowd attendance is amazing, it’s not fair on them if they can’t get on that centre court. I can understand their frustration, I was just confused as to what was going on.”

Responding to the incident while courtside, Sky Sports pundit Laura Robson said: “You absolutely can’t believe it. The boos are very much justified because it’s just been announced that Fonseca and Humbert is moving to stadium court. All these Brazilian fans have been sat here for hours and hours are now just finding out and they’re trying to head over. The queues are going to be outrageous trying to get in.

“You feel so bad for them and it just makes it really difficult for the two players on court. There’s so much drama happening around the crowd and they’re just trying to play tennis. Just absolute scenes out here!”

Regardless, it’s another feather in the cap of Mensik, who has now secured six victories against opponents ranked inside the top 10. The gleeful Czech said post-match: “The most important thing was the serve today. That was the key. I knew it was going to be tough in the tie-breaker and the fans were tough today so I tried to stay focused. It was an important time of the match so I had to keep focus.”

The 19-year-old will go head-to-head with Roman Safiullin for a place in the last-16 after the Russian star defeated Alexei Popyrin in his round two clash.

Peter Bonnington made a funny error during qualifying ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, accidentally addressing Kimi Antonelli as Lewis Hamilton on the radio. The Mercedes race engineer worked with the seven-time world champion for 12 years before his Ferrari switch over the winter. Bonnington is now working with rookie Antonelli as the 18-year-old navigates a baptism of fire in F1, partnering with George Russell to fill Hamilton’s boots in one of the sport’s biggest teams.

During footage captured from Antonelli’s cockpit during qualifying, Bonnington jumped onto the radio to reply to the Italian teenager’s comments. Slipping up, he replied: “Yeah. Copy that, Lewis,” before then correcting himself. Both Antonelli and Hamilton are forging new relationships with their race engineers after major changes in the off-season. The seven-time world champion is working with Riccardo Adami, who previously teamed up with Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz during their time with Ferrari.

Hamilton expressed intense frustration when asked about the new partnership in Shanghai. Pundits micro-analysed the 40-year-old’s radio snippets with Adami after the Ferrari star expressed a desire for fewer messages in Melbourne.

“Everyone over-egged [the situation in Australia],” Hamilton complained in China. “It was literally just a back-and-forth. I was very polite in how I suggested it. I said, ‘Leave it to me, please’. I wasn’t saying ‘eff you.’ I wasn’t swearing.

“It was just at that point I was really struggling with the car and I needed full focus on a couple of things. We’re getting to know each other. He had two champions or more in the past and there are no issues between us. Go and listen to the radio calls with others and their engineers – it’s far worse.

“The conversations that Max has had with his engineer over the years and the abuse that the poor guy has taken, and you never write about it, but you write about the smallest little discussion I have with mine. We’re literally just getting to know each other.

“Afterwards, I’m like: ‘Hey bro, I don’t need that bit of information. But if you want to give me this, this is the place I like to do it. This is how I’m feeling in the car, and at these points, this is what this is, when I do and don’t need the information.’ That’s what it’s about. There are no issues, and it’s done with a smiley face, and we move forward.”

Hamilton and Adami enjoyed the perfect moment to crown their new partnership on Saturday. The 40-year-old fended off Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen to win the sprint race in commanding fashion, capping his first victory in Ferrari overalls.

George Russell was responsible for proving himself wrong at the Chinese Grand Prix, where his qualifying lap split the McLarens on Saturday. Mercedes star Russell has been talking up McLaren‘s dominance since the start of the season, leading to backlash from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Russell’s bold claims include McLaren holding a bigger advantage than Red Bull ever have, saying their car should win every race, and that they could switch their full attention to developing for 2026 if they wanted to. Norris hit back before qualifying, when he said: “It’s very good – we have got the best car – but the fact he’s been so much ‘season’s over’ after one race is a bit weird. George thinks he can play a lot of games but I don’t fall for any of them.”

After finishing fourth in a sprint race which was won by Ferrari‘s Lewis Hamilton, with Piastri finishing second and Norris ninth, Russell added further proof that McLaren are not as dominant as he says they are by splitting them in qualifying.

The Englishman’s final lap in Q3 was less than a tenth behind pole-sitter Piastri and enough to knock Norris off the front row. Afterwards, he admitted his shock at looking up to the timings board after ruining McLaren‘s one-two.

“It feels incredible,” Russell told Sky Sports. “It was one of the hardest quali sessions I’ve done in a long, long time. I was trying all sorts with my tyre preparation and nothing seemed to be clicking. I did something totally different on that last lap and everything came alive.

“The lap was awesome. I was really surprised when I crossed the line. It’s going to be tough [for the Grand Prix]. We know the McLarens are going to be quick but I’m going to be doing everything I can to stay where I am or jump ahead of them.”

Norris kicked the season off with a win at the Australian Grand Prix last weekend. But he has so far found things tough in China, and he doubled down on the idea that his MCL39 is not as perfect as others may think it is.

“I’ve said plenty of times that it’s difficult to drive,” he told Sky Sports. “It’s still quick enough, it can just be a bit feisty at times. Today it was just mistakes from my side and that’s all.

“It’s always disappointing not to be on pole but Oscar deserves it today and I’m happy for him. I was struggling a lot yesterday [in free practice] and this morning [in the sprint]. I’m not too disappointed.”