Cilic beats No. 4 Draper to lead the way for veteran players at Wimbledon

LONDON (AP) — Marin Cilic helped make Thursday a great day for the 30-somethings at Wimbledon.

The 36-year-old Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion and 2017 Wimbledon runner-up, stunned fourth-seeded Jack Draper 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 in a second-round match on No. 1 Court to eliminate the top British player from the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.

Cilic is playing at Wimbledon for the first time since 2021 after having two separate knee surgeries over the last two years. But his big serve and ground strokes are still intact, as evidenced by his 16 aces and 53 total winners against Draper.

“In this part of (my) career, to come back to play at this level, in front of this crowd, against Jack, it’s just incredible,” Cilic said.

Cilic was one of seven men aged 33 or older who played at Wimbledon on Thursday. His win means five of them will reach the third round.

Novak Djokovic beat 35-year-old Dan Evans, 34-year-old Grigor Dimitrov ousted Corentin Moutet and 35-year-old Jan-Lennard Struff finished off a win over Felix Auger-Aliassime in a match that had been suspended on Wednesday.

Later on, French veteran Gael Monfils — who is 38, like Djokovic — was playing 33-year-old Marton Fucsovics.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis