Jack Draper’s quest for his first Wimbledon title in his home country ended much earlier than expected. Draper, who entered the tournament as the man ranked fourth, was eliminated by Marine Syrick in the second round on Thursday.
Cilic claimed victory by defeating the Draper in four sets (6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4).
Draper picked up the loss despite fewer unforced errors compared to Cilic. Draper also registered a double fault of zero against Cilic’s Six, but still lost the match.
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Cilic was able to win the match with strong ball arrangements. He had 53 winners against 29 of the drapers.
With the victory, Cilic, who ranked Wimbledon at number 83 in the ATP, will advance to the third round of the event for the ninth time in his career. He made it all the way up to the 2017 final, where he fell to Roger Federer. Cilic never won Wimbledon, but he worked well there, recording a 69% win percentage to enter Thursday’s game.
Cilic has struggled in recent years, but the 36-year-old has a history of successful games. He won the 2014 US Open and ranked third in the world in 2018. Cilic performed consistently at Grand Slam events until 2023, when a knee injury forced him to take a long break from major competitions. He returned to action in time for the Australian Open in 2024, but retreated from the French Open in 2024 and did not participate in any other Grand Slams after undergoing knee surgery. Cilic also missed the 2025 Australian opening to recover from that surgery.
Draper’s upset comes in a tournament full of them. Wimbledon left several big names early in 2025. No to this. Coco Gauff of 2, No. 3Jessica Pegula, No. 3 includes Alexander Zverev. Draper is the newest big name to be prematurely removed from events.
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Despite his rank, the 23-year-old draper struggled at Wimbledon. Entering play on Thursday, Draper had a 43% win rate during the tournament and never made any progress past the second round.
That trend continued after early exit vs. Cilic on Thursday.
