By Michael Davey
British duo Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu have been knocked out of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, putting a damper on local title hopes.
Draper, the men’s British No.1 and world No.4, fell to 36-year-old veteran Maran Čilić 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, while Raducanu, the women’s British No.1 and world No.40, lost a gritty meeting with top-seed and tournament favourite Aryna Sabalenka 7-6, 6-4.
Draper blames grass, remains optimistic
Speaking to the media after his Thursday clash with Čilić on Court One, Draper was clearly frustrated with the result and highlighted his poor technique on grass as a key factor in the shock loss.
“I’ve been really disappointed with the way my game’s been on the grass this year, in all honesty,” he admitted.
“I wasn’t feeling too great at Queen’s. I don’t know how I made the semis there and gave myself a chance of making the final.
“It highlighted to me this year that I really struggle on the grass. I felt great on the hard court, felt great on the clay. I felt like there wasn’t many holes, whereas as soon as I came onto the grass I felt a big difference.
“It’s just something I’ve got to keep in mind – how I’m going to develop my game for the long-term, for next year – just to get better as a player.”
Despite the crushing defeat, Draper chose to remain optimistic and promised to follow the example of the best players by improving the weakest aspects of his game.
“I want to feel like everything in my game is secure. I think that’s what you see with the top guys. They’re so consistent all the time because there’s no holes in their game,” Draper said.
“The last couple of weeks has been good for me to see that. Even though I’ve had such an amazing progression the last sort of 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.”
READ MORE: Liverpool boss Arne Slot leads the way as tributes pour in for Diogo Jota
Raducanu knocked out despite fight
Sabalenka beat home favourite Raducanu on Friday night after the British star put in a brave performance against the finest women’s player in the world on Centre Court.
The Belarusian, for her part, complimented Raducanu’s fight after the match, saying: “Honestly guys, she played such incredible tennis; she pushed me really hard. I had to fight for every point like crazy. I’m happy to see her healthy.
“And guys… wow! What an atmosphere. My ears are still hurting! I was just trying to tell myself ‘pretend they’re cheering for you’! Thank you for the atmosphere.”
On keeping it calm in the face of attrition, Sabalenka was unequivocal: “I’ve had a lot of experience, especially recently, where I’ve lost myself. Today, I just kept telling myself ‘do not do the same mistake’, to stay calm and push myself to the limits.”
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: British Grand Prix: Lando Norris heads into Silverstone as Britain’s best hope for victory
Seeded players’ historic struggles continue
Seeded players have continued to endure a tough time at Wimbledon, with more than half of them across both men and women knocked out by the midway point of the third round.
On Thursday, women’s eighth-seed Iga Świątek needed three sets to overcome unseeded Caty McNally 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, while Jessica Bouzas Maneiro toppled 28th-seed Sofia Kenin 6-1, 7-6.
Friday then saw unfancied Laura Siegemund sink sixth-seed Madison Keys 6-3, 6-3; 24th-seed Elise Mertens beat 14th-seed Elina Svitolina 6-1, 7-6; and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova knock out former world No.1 and four-time Major winner Naomi Osaka 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
In the men’s bracket, top-seed Carlos Alcaraz had to work hard for his 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over unranked Jan-Lennard Struff on Friday, a day after Sebastian Ofner had moved past 13th-seed Tommy Paul 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 7-5 and August Holmgren had sent 21st-seed Tomáš Macháč packing 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5, 7-6.
Various reasons have been proposed for the historic exodus of seeds this year – be it the heat, the balls, the schedule – but Sky Sports commentator Jonathan Overend favours a broader look at the quality within the game.
“There’s been so much talk over the last couple of days about why so many seeds have been knocked out of Wimbledon,” he noted.
“Well, I’d like to flip that conversation and ask why so many good players are unseeded? Because that for me is the main reason why we have lost so many of the big names.
“There are so many good players further down the rankings, outside the top 32, so we can scratch around for so many excuses on behalf of the top seeds, but in reality they’ve been beaten by very, very good players who have been rising to the occasion.”
READ NEXT: British and Irish Lions news: Farrell joins Lions, England half-backs to steer ship vs Waratahs
Geoffrey H. Latayan