Wimbledon’s decision to keep Jack Draper off Centre Court is baffling ...Middle East

WIMBLEDON — Eyebrows were raised when the “partial” order of play for the fourth day of play landed in inboxes: you had to scan down to the sixth match to find Jack Draper.

The Wimbledon second-round match looks like the tie of the day, the British No 1 and one of the favourites for the title up against former US Open champion and SW19 finalist Marin Cilic.

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The 36-year-old Croatian is not the player he once was, but still has significant name recognition for his 2014 major title and tears in defeat to Roger Federer here in 2017.

But that was not enough to convince tournament director Jamie Baker and the rest of the rather opaque “Order of Play Committee”, which we believe includes Tim Henman, that he deserved a place on Centre Court.

Clearly the pull of top seed Jannik Sinner and Australian journeyman Aleksandar Vukic was too much, as they were given the primetime slot on Wimbledon’s historic court. For the second round in a row, Draper will have to make do with No 1 Court.

The 23-year-old is too gracious to complain too much himself, although it is notable that just a few days before the tournament, he was talking up making Centre his own.

“The home support that I’m going to have and people right behind me is going to be amazing,” Draper said on the eve of the tournament.

“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.”

Order of play

Centre Court

No 1 Court

Well, Wimbledon he has started work on but Centre Court is still a bit of a mystery: Thursday’s clash with Cilic will be his seventh match at Wimbledon but he has only played on its biggest court twice, once against Novak Djokovic four years ago and once against Elias Ymer last year.

There is of course a commercial consideration. No 1 Court tickets remain expensive, ranging from £85 to £110 a head, with no concessionary rates.

“I’m just happy that I’m getting a chance to get out there,” Dan Evans, who faces Novak Djokovic in the opening match on Centre Court on Thursday, tells The i Paper.

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”I guess the crowd have got me versus Novak, which is one British player out there. So does there need to be two? I think it’s nice for Court One.”

And of course the BBC will still put Draper on their main channel, either BBC One or BBC Two, irrespective of whether he is playing on Centre or not.

Organisers have even fudged the No 1 Court schedule, which usually alternates men’s and women’s matches, to get the Brit into primetime; Mirra Andreeva, Lucia Bronzetti, Maria Sakkari and Elena Rybakina will play in back-to-back WTA matches before the main event on No 1 Court.

But there is a degree of urgency to Draper’s accession, with this the first Wimbledon since Andy Murray’s retirement. His protegé is already world No 4 and Britain’s best player by a distance, yet struggles to be recognised much beyond the tennis community. (According to YouGov, he is the 14th best known tennis player in Britain.)

With Murray gone, Britain needs a new figurehead in the men’s game. Draper is more than ready to be that man. He just needs the All England Club to let him.

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