Jack Draper crashes out of Wimbledon as British No.1 suffers shock defeat vs ex-finalist

Jack Draper is dumped out of Wimbledon in the second round by 36-year-old veteran and ex-finalist Marin Cilic as the British No.1 goes down in four sets on Court One

British No.1 Jack Draper crashed out of Wimbledon in the second round after suffering a shock defeat to veteran Marin Cilic. The 36-year-old claimed a stunning 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 win to disappoint the Court One crowd.

Cilic is a player of serious pedigree, having won the 2014 US Open, reached the final of Wimbledon in 2017 and the Australian Open in 2018. And although he’s 6ft 6in, at his best he’s far more than just a big-serving brute, as he showed in the opening two sets here.

The former world No.3 produced some stunning shots, with his forehand a particular highlight as it arrowed into the corners for clean winners time and again. While he made more unforced errors than Draper, his endeavour was rewarded with far more winners.

It was Cilic who was dictating the rallies, forcing his younger opponent into shuttle runs back and forth before the inevitable winner came. The nous of an experienced professional who knows his game inside out became obvious as he went 2-0 up inside a stunned Court One.

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Draper got the crowd involved in fourth game of the third set, getting them to their feet when he took the third break point opportunity after Cilic had been warned by the umpire for his slow serving. He sealed the third set by breaking once more, levelling up his taller opponent’s tally of aces in the process.

Draper was increasingly fired up in the fourth set, taking issue with a line call from a Cilic ace, and appeared to be feeding off the heightened tension inside the court. Despite suffering two mishits, he saved two set points to level at 4-4, but Cilic would not be denied.

The pressure from the giant Croat was relentless and he took his first match point at the end of a nervy rally as Draper sent a backhand wide. Draper, the No.4 seed, has never made it past the second round at Wimbledon. This was just his fifth match at the Grand Slam, but despite what he said in the build-up, expectations were high.

Cilic is playing at Wimbledon for the first time since 2021, having suffered a series of injuries, but showed no ill signs of his recent history. He struck 53 winners, to Draper’s 29 and prevailed despite getting just 57 per cent of his first serves in.

He arrived at Wimbledon off the back of a victory at the Nottingham Open which moved him back inside the top 100 players in the world and he was fully deserving of his win. “The emotions are just incredible, there I was two years ago, I can’t even describe. It’s been a long journey, I never lost any doubt,” Cilic said.

“Obviously it was long and testing, a huge challenge for me in this part of my career to come back to play this kind of level in front of this crowd, against Jack, it’s just incredible so thanks everyone for great sportsmanship.”