Tim Henman snubs Jack Draper with Centre Court schedule

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a day ago

Jack Draper, the British No 1, has been snubbed by the Centre Court schedulers again for his second-round clash against Marin Cilic on Thursday.
Draper, the fourth seed, will have back-to-back matches on No 1 Court while wild card Dan Evans instead becomes the only Briton to play in Wimbledon's top arena under day four's schedule.
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The likes of Sir Andy Murray and Tim Henman rarely spent their first two rounds on the second-best court while in their pomp.
Henman is now chair of the scheduling selection committee which has instead chosen to give Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek and world No 1 Jannik Sinner top billing.
It means that Draper will have played only two of his seven matches at Wimbledon on Centre Court, with one of those coming in his SW19 debut against Djokovic in 2021.
The other, which came last year, saw him moved to Centre Court following Andy Murray's withdrawal where he beat Elias Ymer in the first round, before being knocked out in an all-British affair with Cameron Norrie.
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All of Draper's other matches have taken place on No 1 Court including the Norrie defeat, with the exception of his 2022 first-round win over Zizou Bergs, which was held on No 12 Court.
Draper's last appearance on Centre Court was the second-round defeat to Cameron Norrie in 2024 - Reuters/Paul Childs
Draper said on Friday that he wanted to make Centre Court his home. 'The home support that I'm going to have and people right behind me is going to be amazing,' he said. 'I think it's going to be a privilege to play as the British No 1. That's what I've always wanted. I've wanted to make Centre Court or Wimbledon my environment. And I think I'm looking forward to hopefully starting that.'
But the British No 1, who made the semi-finals of last year's US Open, will have to make do with second billing. The draw did the home hope no favours either, with veteran Cilic a definite potential danger.
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The Croatian reached the final in 2017, three years after winning the US Open. After struggling with a knee problem in recent seasons, he is now fit again and won the warm-up event in Nottingham.
In stark contrast to past finalist Cilic, Sinner's opponent Aleksandar Vukic, the Australian world No 93 who has never been beyond the third round of any grand slam.
Draper was untroubled on his way to a place in the second round at Wimbledon as his opponent Sebastian Baez retired injured.
Draper has spoken of his desire to harness the power of the home support at Wimbledon - Getty Images/Dan Istitene
The Argentine had been struggling with a right-knee injury and twice received medical attention during the second set before eventually withdrawing from the match three games into the third.
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Draper had been leading 6-2, 6-2, 2-1 at the time and is now looking to exorcise ghosts after being upset in the second round last year by compatriot Norrie.
Unlike Murray, who came to the fore with breakthrough performances at Wimbledon, this has so far been Draper's least successful grand slam – something he is determined to change.
'I think grass in general is a surface I'm still trying to find my best level on,' he said. 'On the hard courts at the US Open, even on the clay this year, I think I found my best level for what I can play right now. I feel like I haven't yet found that on the grass. I feel like it's coming, so I'm looking forward to that, that moment when it all sort of comes together and I can really show my best level.
'I think I've still got so much to unlock on the grass. I think that's really exciting for me. I love Wimbledon. I think if there's any tournament I want to play my best in, any tournament that I want to win, it's this one.'
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