World No. 4 and home favourite Jack Draper attributes shock Rd 2 loss to his weakness on grass which, he feels, veteran Marin Cilic exploited ruthlessly
Marin Cilic; (right) A disappointed Jack Draper after his second-round defeat to Marin Cilic at Wimbledon on Thursday. Pic/Getty Images
Jack Draper admitted he needs to overhaul his grass-court game after the British fourth seed suffered a shock Wimbledon exit as former finalist Marin Cilic rolled
back the years to reach the third round.
Cilic, the Croatian World No. 83, blasted 53 winners in a 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 victory that stunned the partisan British fans on Thursday.
Draper is the new figurehead of British tennis after taking on a role filled for a generation by the now-retired former Wimbledon winner Andy Murray. But the 23-year-old has a poor record at his home Grand Slam. He is yet to make it past the second round in four appearances at the grass-court tournament.
‘One of my toughest losses’
“It’s probably one of my toughest losses. Pretty frustrated and upset. It hurts badly,” Draper said.
The Briton was critical of his performance on grass courts this year despite reaching the semi-finals at Queen’s Club last month. “I’ve been disappointed with my game on grass this year. I felt great on clay and hard courts, but as soon as I came on grass I felt a big difference. It highlighted a lot of weaknesses in my game, especially against a player as good as him on grass. I don’t play many people on the Tour who I feel completely bully me. I can take a lot of lessons from it,” he added.
Cilic, a boss at SW19
In contrast to Draper’s woes in south-west London, Cilic has an impressive record at Wimbledon, finishing as runner-up in 2017, when he lost in the final against Roger Federer. The former World No. 3 has a US Open title (2014) in his locker, but has not played at the All England Club since 2021 and has slipped down the rankings after battling a knee injury that required surgery. “My emotions are just incredible. Where I was two years ago, I can’t even describe. It has been a long journey, but I never lost any faith,” Cilic said.
Meanwhile, on Friday American fifth seed Taylor Fritz beat Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1.
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