Draper entered the championships as the world No.4 and with a spotlight on him more intense than he had experienced before.
It was an unfamiliar position for the Brit and it didn’t help he was facing an opponent much more experienced on this stage, contesting his 46th main-draw Wimbledon match compared to Draper’s seventh.
Cilic blasted 53 winners past him – Draper managed only 29 – to win 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-4 on No.1 Court.
“I don’t play many people on the tour that I feel like they completely bully me and take the racquet out of my hand,” said a shellshocked Draper. “I know it’s a grass court. I’m not sure what his stats were, but I’m sure he had an amazing match from the winners to unforced errors count.”
Indeed, Cilic committed only 34 unforced errors alongside his hefty winner tally, describing his level of play as “fantastic”.
Barely inside the top 200 at the beginning of the season, he is now 74th in the ATP live rankings.
“I didn’t have many Grand Slam victories in last couple of years, so was great to play great level from my side,” said Cilic, also a finalist at Australian Open 2018.
“I think I executed extremely well. So just enjoying this part that I’m playing well now last few weeks. Looking forward to continue to play well.”