THE ALL ENGLAND CLUB, LONDON — For Jack Draper, Wimbledon remains a conundrum. The great home hope fell in the second round on No. 1 Court for a second straight year, this time losing 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 against the world No. 83 and former finalist Marin Čilić.
Those two early exits bookend an otherwise very impressive 12 months of Grand Slam performances for the world No. 4, with runs to the semifinals at the U.S. Open and then fourth-round appearances in Melbourne and Paris.
It would be easy to attribute his Wimbledon defeats to the strain of being Britain’s highest-ranked player — pressure Draper has continually played down — but like last year’s defeat to Cameron Norrie, Draper again struggled to impose his game on home turf. Normally so nimble, Draper has looked a little heavy-legged here, as though not quite sure yet how to best maneuver his bulky 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm) frame across the grass.
Čilić, 36, is fresh from winning an ATP Challenger title in Nottingham and knows the intricacies of this surface. He reached the Wimbledon final in 2017 and won the prestigious warm-up tournament at Queen’s in 2012 and 2018. He displayed all of that grass-court pedigree against Draper, dominating from the baseline and neutralizing Draper’s power. His stronger wing is his backhand, which caused Draper a big problem. The Brit’s favored serve from the ad court swings out to the right-hander’s backhand, and it’s generally a devastating weapon. Not so against Čilić, who could handle it with his favorite shot, winning the first set with a return winner off his backhand.
Čilić’s forehand is much more up and down, but when it works, it can be lethal. It flew through the court at times here, augmented by a brilliant serving display that took in 16 aces and an 88 percent win-rate on first-serve points in the first two sets. Most importantly, Čilić was able to get on the front foot. In the first couple of sets, he spent 25 percent and then 28 percent of the time in attack, compared to 16 percent in both for Draper — a huge drop-off from his average in the past year of 26 percent.
Draper flipped this in the third set, when it felt as though the momentum of the match might be about to turn. He finally broke for the first time and then raced away with the set, harnessing the energy of a crowd who enjoyed seeing their adversary for the day getting a time violation down break point.
Čilić wasn’t rattled by the home fans getting on his back. He refocused and got back on the front foot, attacking in 27 percent of the fourth set compared to Draper’s 21 per cent. His movement was impressive too — even when he was younger, before two knee operations, he rarely chased down drop shots like he did against Draper. Čilić’s injuries have been so persistent that this summer’s tournament is his first Wimbledon appearance since 2021.
Draper clung on to save two break points down 3-4, but a few games later, it was all over. Čilić forced a missed backhand to claim a memorable victory that further opens up a tournament defined by upsets on the men’s and women’s sides. Novak Djokovic, the seven-time champion, and Jakub Menšík, the world No. 17, are the two highest seeds left in Draper’s quarter.
For Čilić, it is a statement win after fearing that his career would be over following a second knee operation in May last year.
Draper will be monumentally disappointed, but he has made great strides in so many areas over the past year. He has climbed up from No. 40 to become a fixture in the world’s top five, winning a Masters 1,000 title, the level just below Grand Slams, along the way.
Until next year at least, this home major continues to be his kryptonite.
(Photo: Hannah Peters / Getty Images)