The question that sprang into Jack Draper’s mind after this chastening defeat was simple: how did Andy Murray do it? Draper, the new hope of British men’s tennis, had come into these championships with expectations that he would leave his mark. Instead he was taught a grand slam lesson by the veteran Marin Cilic and leaves Wimbledon with fresh lessons to take on board in his burgeoning career.
There has been distinct excitement at Draper’s prospects in SW19 this summer after his heady ascent up the rankings and victory at Indian Wells in the spring. That this was only his fourth Wimbledon appearance and that none of his previous outings had gone beyond the second round was not given much weight. But perhaps a lack of experience told here, at least in how Draper managed the match, while the 36-year-old Cilic, a Wimbledon finalist in 2017, revelled in his own on-court Indian summer.
“It makes me think that Andy’s achievement of what he did, winning here twice, was just unbelievable,” Draper said, having collected his thoughts after the 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 reverse. “I wasn’t going out there thinking I was under so much pressure. I just didn’t play good enough today. I lost to a better player. I wasn’t able to find the level I wanted.”
It seems, too, fair to imagine there’s an element of deflection in that answer. Part of Murray’s great triumph was to rise above the clamour of expectation that met him every time he set foot in the All England Club. And Draper did look tight in the match, particularly the opening two sets. But there were other obvious factors: he points to a struggle to find his feet on grass, and then there was the form of Cilic.
The Croat’s strength of serve is well known and his whipped forehand a deadly weapon. What was less clear was how able he would be to summon those powers after more than two years out of the game dealing with a knee injury that required two rounds of surgery. An omen was to be found in Nottingham last month, when the 36-year-old won the grass-court tournament and became the oldest winner ever of an ATP Challenger event (usurping Murray). Here he looked a player who had emerged fully from rehabilitation, and was the more mobile player on court.
Speaking in front of the crowds on Court One, Cilic described his emotions as “just incredible”. Coming back from the place he was in two years ago “I can’t even describe” he said. “It has been a long journey but I never lost any doubt. 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 and against Jack is incredible, so thanks everyone for your great sportsmanship.”
The dynamic of the first set had seen Cilic leading the rallies and Draper in dogged pursuit of the ball. It had allowed the 23-year-old to stay in the game, but he was leaving himself little room for error. At 4-3 Draper fell 0-40 down on his serve but somehow clawed his way back. At 5-4, however, Cilic tore into Draper again, got to three break points again, and this time converted with a backhand return winner off an anaemic second serve.
The Briton’s head was down, he appeared to be in his own thoughts and the second set slipped away from him quickly. “You run out of time,” was how he put it. “The match is going so quick, the points are going by so quickly. I feel like every ball is on my feet on the returns and on the serves, you’re not really getting a look.” By the time he was 4-2 down in the second set Draper was railing against the umpires and the narrow calls dictated by Wimbledon’s AI, a service he thinks “isn’t 100% correct”. It didn’t look good.
In the third set Draper reset. The energy returned and with it some execution. Game on, or at least it felt that way. Cilic was not paying attention to the narrative, however. After ceding the third set, he stayed calm in the fourth and summoned again the power and placement that had served him so well. With the match reaching a decisive point at 5-4, he stepped forward on to Draper’s serve once more. He missed a drop shot inches from the net on the first point but did not let it rock him and while Draper struggled to find his rhythm, Cilic found the lines and the corners. At 30-40 a limp forehand from Draper failed to clear the cord and that was that.
“I think in some ways it’s a good thing,” Draper said of defeat. “It highlighted a lot of areas of my game which I need to continue to improve on if I want to be consistently a top player and going deep in these slams. Everyone is a great player [here] and you’re going to come unstuck if you’re not good enough.”
