'Still holes in my game' - Draper on Wimbledon exit

BBC News

7 hours ago

British number one Jack Draper says he was not "good enough" in a shock Wimbledon second-round exit, insisting a below-par performance was not because he felt increased pressure at this year's tournament.Draper was seeded fourth at the All England Club, but lost 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-4 to 36-year-old Marin Cilic.The 23-year-old was the highest seeded home player since Andy Murray defended the men's title in 2017.In 2013, Murray, who retired last year, was the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years and added his second title three years later."It makes me think that Andy's achievement of what he did - winning here twice - [was] just unbelievable," Draper said."It's not the pressure. I wasn't going out there thinking I was under so much pressure. You [journalists] mention it all the time. "I just didn't play good enough. I lost to a better player. That's the main reason. I just was not able to find the level I wanted. I came up short."
A stunning rise over the past year put Draper in the position of being a genuine Wimbledon contender.In the space of a year, the Englishman has reached the US Open semi-finals, clinched the prestigious Indian Wells title and reached two other ATP Tour finals.Having won a title on the Stuttgart grass last year, and reaching the Queen's semi-finals last month despite feeling unwell, many experts felt his game could translate on to the Wimbledon grass."I've been really disappointed with the way my game's been on the grass this year, in all honesty," Draper said."I really struggled on the grass. I felt great on the hard courts, felt great on the clay. "I felt there weren't many holes in my game. As soon as I came on to the grass, I felt a big difference."
The left-hander's serve and forehand were highlighted as the key weapons, but he was pushed deep in the court by 2017 runner-up Cilic and saw his game neutralised as the veteran rolled back the years."I think the hole in my forehand showed up, for sure," Draper said."I wasn't able to deal with his pace of ball into my forehand. I was over-spinning a lot. "I think a lot of my success this year with my forehand, when I have more time, it's a lot easier for me because I can create the speed and the spin that I want, and the effectiveness of that."My movement could have been better. There's many areas of my game which I still really, really need to work on to be the player I want to be."
Awkward match-up for Draper - analysis
Todd Woodbridge, 1997 Wimbledon singles semi-finalist and nine-time doubles champion, on BBC TVI didn't think there were any nerves from Jack Draper, I thought he handled himself well. I just thought the match-up didn't go so well for him. It was an awkward match-up because the left-handed serve got into the beautiful ball-striking return of Cilic. Cilic then got the ball back in deep and he was able to dictate with his forehand. He took all of Draper's weapons away and he [Draper] never really got the chance to dictate play on his terms.If you were to go over all the stats, Draper didn't return well enough. I felt he got a lot of balls back but they were centre-balls which allowed Cilic to dictate. When Cilic had second serves, he had to get on top of him in that department. Draper was using his backhand too much and that isn't his weapon.He didn't get around and use his forehand enough, so I don't think he mixed up his positioning enough to give himself an opportunity to build pressure on the Cilic serve.