LONDON: 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 number 83, blasted 53 winners in a 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 victory that stunned the partisan British fans on Court One 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.
“It’s probably one of my toughest losses. Pretty frustrated and upset. It hurts badly,” Draper said.
“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 can take a lot of lessons from it.”
Draper is the latest highly-ranked star to endure a surprise exit from Wimbledon this year, with German men’s third seed Alexander Zverev and four of the top five women’s seeds all eliminated.
Draper made his breakthrough last season with a run to the US Open semifinals, yet he has failed to make the last eight at any of this year’s three Grand Slams.
“It makes me think that Andy Murray’s achievement of winning here twice is just unbelievable,” Draper said.
“Obviously you guys mention the pressure all the time but the main reason is I wasn’t good enough today.
“Even though I’ve had an amazing progression in the last 12 months, this shows the work I need to do. I thought I was further ahead than I am.”
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 number three 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.
“It was a long and testing period, plus a huge challenge for me in this part of my career to come back and play at this level.
“To play in front of this crowd is incredible. I’m just feeling great and hoping I can continue to play well.”
Cilic has reached three Grand Slam finals, winning his sole major title at the 2014 US Open and losing to Federer at Wimbledon in 2017 and the Australian Open in 2018.
Now 36, the big-serving Cilic is firmly in the twilight of his career.
He had lost in the opening round at the Australian and French Opens this year, but his superb display against Draper underlined his enduring quality on grass.
He returned to the top 100 by winning the second-tier Challenger event in Nottingham last month.
Dedicating the win to his children, Cilic added: “They are one of the reasons that I kept such a great passion for this sport.
“Also always running after them keeps me in great shape! I’m so pleased they are here supporting me.”
Cilic sends fourth seed Draper crashing out of Wimbledon
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Cilic sends fourth seed Draper crashing out of Wimbledon
Rublev marches on, Bublik and Draper fall at Dubai Tennis Championships
- No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev, the 2022 champion, dispatches Ugo Humbert in epic three setter 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3
- Tallon Griekspoor upsets No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik in straight sets to set-up quarterfinal clash with No. 6 seed Jakub Mensik
DUBAI: Andrey Rublev signaled his determination to reclaim the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title on Wednesday, as the ruthless Russian dispatched fellow former champion Ugo Humbert in a titanic, three-set tussle on center court.
As a two-time finalist in Dubai and the winner there in 2022, Rublev already has fond memories of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium. Meanwhile Humbert, who has also tasted success in Dubai having edged Alexander Bublik to the title in 2024, was looking to tame a second former winner in the space of 24 hours after eliminating reigning champion Stefanos Tsitsipas on Tuesday.
In the early stages of the match a smattering of vocal young fans stirred up an endless cacophony of noise from all four grandstands as the near-capacity crowd repeatedly serenaded both players with cries of “Let’s go, Andrey” and “Allez, Ugo,” the even split among the supporters mirroring the evenly matched contest.
The nail-biter of a match went with serve for the first six games before, as is so often the case in professional tennis, the seventh proved to be a critical turning point. Rublev took advantage of two break points afforded by a pair of uncharacteristic double-faults by Humbert to achieve what Tsitsipas had failed to do in the entirety of their Round of 32 clash: he broke the Frenchman.
The set then resettled into a familiar pattern as the pair once again held serve amid minimal threats. And so, after 41 minutes of the back-and-forth, Rublev claimed the opening set 6-4 courtesy of that sole break of serve.
The second set mirrored the first, this time with both players avoiding a break of serve, until Humbert, the current world No. 37, narrowly edged the tiebreak 7-5 to even the match.
With very little separating the battling duo at this point, their seesaw duel was akin to two prize fighters exchanging punches with neither able to land a decisive blow. Buoyed no doubt by the feverish support from their respective fans, both players refused to buckle.
But then, with the third set tied at 1-1, Rublev held serve, broke and held again to win three straight games and move 4-1 ahead. The match then, predictably, once again went with serve until it was 5-3.
Then Humbert, facing the prospect of elimination, suddenly found himself with two break points as his opponent wobbled while serving for the match. The steely Russian held his nerve, however, and dispatched a trio of massive serves, including two aces, to reverse the deficit and set up his first match-point.
That was all the 28-year-old needed, as another huge serve forced a Humbert error and sealed the match 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
“It was a very dramatic ending,” Rublev said. “I’m really happy I was able to keep going and save the last game.
“It’s difficult to close a match; you can make a double-fault or a mistake, but I made three good serves and that helped me a lot. It’s much easier to win points from the serve than playing rallies every time.”
He commended his opponent, saying: “Ugo played really well. I took my two break chances but he served unbelievably all match. He shoots super hard and very fast, so it’s not easy to do something. I had to be ready for the one chance to break him in a set, and I got those chances and was able to do it.
“This match gives me a lot of confidence, so we’ll see what will happen in the quarterfinal. I’m playing well, so let’s see.”
Rublev now faces another Frenchmen, Arthur Rinderknech, who emerged victorious from a grueling three-set marathon against the British No. 4 seed, Jack Draper, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4.
Their match, which finished well after midnight and with an eerie mist hovering over center court, yielded only two breaks of serve, both of which went Rinderknech’s way. Despite the defeat, Draper can head home with his head held high as his return to top-level tennis continues after a six-month injury layoff.
On the new court 1, Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands pulled off the biggest upset of the day by taming No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik in straight sets 6-3, 7-5. The win earned the world No. 25 a quarterfinal encounter with No. 6 seed Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic, who made short work of the Australian, Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-2.
