ATP Tour

Draper falls to Cilic as De Minaur surges at Wimbledon

Marin Cilic put an end to Jack Draper’s hopes on home soil Thursday at Wimbledon, where he ousted the British No. 1 with a 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 victory.

The 36-year-old Croatian delivered a big-hitting display to overwhelm the fourth-seeded Draper throughout their two-hour, 39-minute second-round clash. Cilic, who reached the Wimbledon final in 2017, has not competed at the grass-court major since 2021, but is returning with conviction this week.

“To come back and play at this kind of level in front of this crowd and against Jack is just incredible,” said Cilic. “Emotions are just incredible, from where I was two years ago, it’s been a long journey. I never lost any doubt. I’ve been really dedicated to training.”

🚨 UPSET ALERT 🚨@cilic_marin knocks out Draper 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-4.@Wimbledon | #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/KKkpmA4OGv

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 3, 2025

Draper was aiming to advance to the third round at Wimbledon for the first time in his career, but the No. 4 player in the PIF ATP Rankings was unable to cope with Cilic’s heavy hitting and dominance on serve.

While Cilic has twice undergone surgery on his right knee — in 2023 and 2024 — there has been little uncertainty over his grass-court pedigree. Cilic, who claimed an ATP Challenger Tour title in Nottingham two weeks ago, will next face Spain’s Jaume Munar.

With victory in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Draper, Cilic extended his winning streak to seven matches and improved to a 33-13 record at Wimbledon. A former World No. 3 and US Open champion, Cilic is up seven spots to No. 76 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

Earlier, Alex de Minaur shook off some early rust before powering to an impressive victory to seal his spot in the third round.

The fired-up Australian overcame French qualifier Arthur Cazaux 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 in a vibrant two-hour, 48-minute battle on No. 2 Court. De Minaur, who reached last year’s quarter-finals, produced a clinical response to dropping the first set and did not face a break point during the final three to prevail.

De Minaur arrived at Wimbledon off the back of a first-round defeat to Jiri Lehecka at Queen’s Club, but he is showing few signs of a hangover this week. The No. 11 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will next face qualifier August Holmgren, who outlasted Tomas Machac 7-6(5), 6-7(8), 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(5).

#NextGenATP star Jakub Mensik also made it safely through to the third round on Thursday with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) win against Marcos Giron to equal his best run at a Grand Slam tournament.

With his two-hour, 51-minute victory, the 19-year-old is the youngest Czech man to advance to the third round at Wimbledon since Tomas Berdych in 2005. He will next face Flavio Cobolli, who eased past British wild card Jack Pinnington Jones 6-1, 7-6(8), 6-2.

Mensik has enjoyed a standout start to the 2025 season, highlighted by lifting his maiden trophy at the ATP Masters 1000 in Miami, where he stunned idol Novak Djokovic in the final.

Jan-Lennard Struff overcame a nervy night’s sleep to defeat 25th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 3-6, 7-6(9), 6-3, 6-4 and book a meeting with two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz.

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Struff had fought back on Wednesday night to win the second set before their second-round clash was suspended due to darkness. Yet the German returned with vengeance to level his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Auger-Aliassime at 3-3.