LONDON :Jack Draper’s hopes of joining the list of home-grown Wimbledon champions were snuffed out in spectacular fashion by Marin Cilic on Thursday when the Croatian made a mockery of his low ranking to topple the fourth seed 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-4 in the second round.
Despite now plying his trade mostly on the second-tier Challenger circuit after his ranking went into freefall, plummeting outside the top 1,000 following knee surgery in 2023, Cilic made sure his return to Wimbledon for the first time in four years was memorable.
All the deafening roars and cheers of the partisan Court One crowd could not save Draper from losing five games on the trot from 4-4 in the first set.
That sequence handed Cilic the first set, with the Croatian producing a scorching service return on set point before he surged into a 3-0 lead in the second.
It was enough to give world number 83 Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion and 2017 Wimbledon runner-up, a two-set cushion.
He appeared to ease off the throttle in the third to raise hopes of a Draper comeback, but the British left-hander knew he was in trouble when he had to save two break points at 4-3 down in the fourth and two games later it was all over.
Draper dragged a forehand wide following a lengthy rally to hand Cilic a remarkable victory considering the Croatian had not won back-to-back matches on the main tour for the past nine months.
Cilic will meet Spain’s Jaume Munar for a place in the fourth round.
