Wimbledon 2025: Jack Draper knocked out by former runner-up Marin Cilic
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Fourth seed Jack Draper bowed out in the second round of the Wimbledon men’s singles to an inspired performance from former runner-up and 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic.
This year’s Lexus Nottingham Open title winner claimed a 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 victory that was reminiscent of the player who reached a career-high ranking at world No.3.
Cilic improved his incredible record against home favourites at Grand Slams to 13-3 – racking up 53 winners in a devasting win on No.1 Court.
Draper battled hard to force the match to a fourth set, but after saving two break points the Briton was broken for a third time on match point.
"Very frustrated," Draper commented on his emotions after the match. "Obviously, really upset. Probably one of the toughest losses I feel.
"I thought Cilic played an incredible match from start to finish. He deserved to win. He's a great player, someone I have huge respect for. He was the much better player than me today."
The Brit is the 19th seed to bow out of The Championships in the opening round of the men’s draw so far.
For Draper it’s a third second round exit at Wimbledon with the British No.1 still yet to reach the round of 32. Draper lost out to fellow Brit Cam Norrie on the same court at the same stage last year.
The result leaves Norrie as the last Briton remaining in the men’s singles draw this year as he gets set to play Mattia Bellucci on Friday.
It brings a close to a mixed grass court season for the Brit having also made the semi-finals at the HSBC Championships, despite dealing with tonsilitus.
"I think the last couple weeks has been good for me to see that, even though I've had such an amazing progression the last sort of 12 months, I've still got a lot of areas that I need to improve in my game," he added.
"In some ways that's exciting, and in some ways that's hard to deal with because I thought I was ahead of where I was."
He's a great player, someone I have huge respect for. He was the much better player than me today.
Two years ago, Cilic underwent surgery that almost caused him to call an end on his career, but fast-forward to 2025 and the 36-year-old sealed an 81st career win on grass at Wimbledon, second only in the draw to Novak Djokovic.
Reflecting on his first career top five win on grass and his journey back from injury, Cilic said: “The emotions are incredible. Where I was two years ago, I can’t even describe – it’s been a long journey, but I never lost any doubt. It was long and testing, a huge challenge at this point in my career to come back to this level and play in front of this crowd and against Jack. It’s incredible.
“I’ve been in the UK the last several weeks enjoying myself playing through some Challengers, winning matches and I’m in great form. I’m hoping I can continue to play well.”
The two players had never faced each other coming into this match and the first set felt like they were feeling out each other’s games, but Cilic seemed to have the upper hand in the closing stages.
Having missed a break point at 3-3, Draper was immediately faced with three against his own serve – Cilic continuously targeting his backhand.
Draper managed to claw them back with a trio of strong serves but faced the exact same problem on his next service game, once again facing 0-40 and staring down three set points. This time there was no hesitation from the Croatian – striking a backhand return winner to clinch the opening set.
The Briton made a flat start to the second set as well, quickly finding himself a break and 3-0 down. The former runner-up seemed to be in unstoppable form, hitting 14 winners past the Briton in the second set to double his lead after less than an hour and a half.
The match appeared to be running away from the Brit in front of his eyes, but Draper just tried to hang on in and wait patiently for an opportunity.
His chance arose early in the third set with Cilic finally showing chinks in his armour. At 1-1 he struck a laser backhand down the line on his third break point to finally nudge in front in a set.
A double break and the set later and the match had all the makings of a five-set classic – but Cilic had other ideas.
With his eyes set on a ninth visit to the third round of Wimbledon, the Croatian sharpened up on serve – only losing one of nine points on his second serve in the fourth.
In the closing moments of what would be the final set, Cilic started to pull away once more. Despite missing on two break points against Draper’s serve at 4-3, the former Grand Slam champion got his killer blow on match point just two games later.
Draper’s attention will now turn to the hard courts ahead of a few months build up to the US Open.
