John McEnroe warns Wimbledon star to be 'careful' after surprise defeat

BBC Wimbledon pundit John McEnroe warned Jack Draper that he needs to be "careful" after his surprise exit at SW19. The Brit went into the tournament as one of the favourites, as the fourth seed, but was handed a 6-4 6-3 1-6 6-4 defeat by veteran Marin Cilic in a masterclass on Court 1.

McEnroe had been one of the experts tipping Draper to challenge the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner for the title at his home Slam, but later conceded that such pressure may have played a role in the upset.

And after the American took a deep dive into Draper's game, he was concerned that the 23-year-old may encounter the same physical problems that have affected Daniil Medvedev in what are supposed to be the Russian's peak years.

McEnroe said: "He's [Draper] six foot four, I don't think he's got an ounce of fat on him, it's not like he can't volley - he certainly can. I think he will make that adjustment. It'll be interesting to see if he changes things up on the hard courts, how he approaches that.

"Take Daniil Medvedev, I think it caught up, he's the guy that started that whole thing, standing way back. I think it's catching up to him mentally and physically.

"When you're winning 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 - how much more was [Aleksandar] Vukic running than Sinner just now? It seemed like twice at much. How much did [Novak] Djokovic make poor Dan Evans run today? He was running side to side.

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"Medvedev was running more than guys he was beating in three sets. At some point that catches up to you. I think that will happen with Jack if he's not careful. He's got to be aware of that. He's got enough overall ability. He's got to mix it up more and accept that and actually embrace it. He can and I believe he will."

McEnroe did praise Draper for his efforts in becoming the fourth seed at Wimbledon, but felt that his strategy needs to be altered moving forward to best position himself to challenge for Grand Slam titles.

"He's done great," McEnroe continued. "He's got to four in the world. If I was looking from a distance at Jack, I was like: 'Why's he standing so far back all the time?' Especially on hard courts, even on clay. Is he quick enough to cover? Is he fit enough to do that consistently? Is that what he wants to do - wear people down that way? Forehand has gotten way bigger.

"But to me at Wimbledon you've got to cut off some of these angles. You can't allow yourself because it's tougher to make those quick first steps. For my Jack needs to lean... look what [Taylor] Fritz did, his first couple of rounds against [Gabriel] Diallo and [Giovanni] Mpetshi Perricard. He's standing at the baseline on 150mph serves.

"Jack Draper, first round against Sebastian Baez, was standing 10ft behind the baseline on his second serve. He's got more room but I don't think in the long run that's the way he wants to play it at Wimbledon.

"I also think he's a big, strapping, fit guy, he's got skills at net and he's got this lefty serve. People say that's an advantage Clare [Balding] - you've got to go with it. Get into net more, serve and volley more often.

"I know I sound like a dinosaur, 'that's what they did before the courts were changed!' but I think he could be really effective even if he did it a third of the time, not a 10th of the time."