Jack Draper conceded that he was “bullied” by Marin Cilic as he exited Wimbledon in the second round — and admitted “one of the toughest losses” of his career highlighted his “weakness” on grass.
Draper is the world No4 and was expected to go far at Wimbledon this year, but he was stunned on Court No1 on Thursday evening as the 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic, 36, beat him 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-4.
The British No1 struggled to contain the big-hitting Croatian, who reached the final of Wimbledon in 2017 but has not competed at SW19 for four years due to a persistent knee injury that saw him fall outside the top 700. He currently occupies 83rd in the rankings.
Draper admitted afterwards that his exit, amid heightened pressure due to his ranking, makes Sir Andy Murray’s two Wimbledon titles all the more “unbelievable”.
Sutton-born Draper has still never gone beyond the second round at the All England Club.
“I’m obviously really upset,” Draper said. “It’s probably one of the toughest losses, I feel. I thought Cilic played an incredible match from start to finish and didn't let up. He deserved the win.
“It hurts a lot. I've been really disappointed with the way my game's been on the grass this year, in all honesty. I wasn't feeling too great at Queen's. I don't know how I made the semis there and gave myself a chance of making the final.
“It’s highlighted to me this year that I really struggled on the grass. I felt great on the hard, felt great on the clay. As soon as I came onto the grass, I felt a big difference.”
Draper added: “It makes me think that Andy's achievement of what he did winning, here twice, just unbelievable. It's not the pressure. I just didn't play good enough today. I lost to a better player.”
Line judges have been replaced by an AI system this year, but Draper was seen complaining to the umpire about a couple of decisions which didn’t go his way against Cilic.
“I don't think it's 100 per cent accurate, in all honesty,” he said. “A couple of the ones, today, it showed a mark on the court. There's no way the chalk would have showed.
“I guess it can't be 100 per cent accurate. It's millimeters. It's for both ways. I think it's a shame — [given] tradition — that the umpires aren't involved. It's obviously something that makes it easier for the players because we don't have to worry about line calls.”
Draper added that because of the grass surface, “the hole in my forehand showed up”.
“I wasn't able to deal with his pace of ball into my forehand,” he added.
The grass-court season is the shortest swing in tennis and Draper insisted he will not do anything differently in preparation for Wimbledon next year, despite feeling his game was off.
Asked if he was surprised by the level shown by the veteran Cilic, Draper replied: “Yeah, in some ways. Well, actually, yes, I am. I was aware he won Nottingham.
“He's been [in the] top 10 for many, many years. I watched him growing up. He's always been someone who's just been the ultimate pro and can play incredible.
“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. 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.”
