Wimbledon exit shows Jack Draper has ‘still got a lot of areas to improve’

The British number one is still yet to make it beyond the last 64 at his home grand slam and, having come into the tournament as the fourth seed after a brilliant season so far, the 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-4 defeat was his most painful yet.

Great credit must go to 36-year-old former finalist Cilic, who, having disappeared from view amid two knee operations, produced a sublime performance on Court One.

But Draper was unable to find the tennis he needed to put his Croatian opponent under consistent pressure, and spoke afterwards about how difficult he finds grass.

“Very frustrated,” said the 23-year-old. “Obviously, really upset. Probably one of the toughest losses I feel. I thought Cilic played an incredible match from start to finish. Didn’t let up. He deserved the win. But 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 felt great on the hard, felt great on the clay. My game, I felt like there wasn’t many holes, whereas, as soon as I came on to the grass, I felt a big difference.

“Even though I’ve had such an amazing progression the last 12 months, I’ve still got a lot of areas that I need to improve in my game. 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.”

Draper put his head in his hands when he was asked whether the pressure of home expectation had contributed to the loss.

Citing Andy Murray, he said: “It makes me think that Andy’s achievement of what he did winning here twice, just unbelievable. It’s not the pressure, it’s not the whatever. I just didn’t play good enough today. I lost to a better player.”

Cilic lost to Roger Federer in the 2017 final, three years after winning his only grand slam title at the US Open, and is a proven performer on grass having won the Queen’s crown twice.

He returned to the top 100 by winning the second-tier Challenger event in Nottingham last month and it was clear from the first moments of the contest that his ranking of 83 gave little indication of the danger he would pose.

Cilic, who was watched by his two young sons, showed he has not lost the metronomic quality of his flat, deep ground strokes, and Draper just could not find any semblance of control.

Cilic, competing at Wimbledon for the first time in four years, played an incredible returning game to clinch the opening set, and it was clear Draper was in big trouble when the Croatian made it five games in a row.

It was not until Draper really let rip early in the third set that he gave himself and the crowd hope of mounting a first successful comeback from two sets to love down.

But he could not force the break early in the fourth set and, the longer the match went on, the more it appeared there was only one winner.

Draper, meanwhile, became the first player to really question the accuracy of the electronic line calling, which has replaced line judges, after reacting with disbelief to a couple of decisions.

“I don’t think it’s 100 per cent accurate,” he said. “I think it’s a shame, tradition, that the umpires aren’t involved.”

The 23-year-old admitted he will probably stay away from the All England Club for the rest of the tournament, but he hopes Emma Raducanu can help make it a successful championships for the home nation nevertheless.

“Emma is playing great,” said Draper. “I watched her play yesterday. That was amazing. She has a real opportunity. I hope she goes on and does us all proud. She’s definitely got the capability to do that.”