Draper ousts Monfils in thrilling clash, sets Fonseca showdown

Jack Draper earned a hard-fought victory Thursday at Roland Garros to continue his season of firsts.

The Briton is into the third round of a major outside of hard courts for the first time after ousting home favourite Gael Monfils 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a thrilling battle under the lights of Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Electric atmosphere, incredible players ⚡️

In what may be THE match of the tournament thus far, Draper manages to overcome Monfils in an absolute thriller, taking the win 6-3 4-6 6-3 7-5... 🔥#rolandgarros #jackdraper pic.twitter.com/3Rc3MqZggv

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 29, 2025

In a back-and-forth clash, Draper and Monfils traded momentum shifts and equally showed signs of tension in crucial stages of the match.

Monfils fed off the crowd’s energy and had chances to force a decider, holding a 5-2 lead in the fourth set. In the opening round, the 38-year-old rallied from two sets to love down to beat Hugo Dellien and for a moment against Draper, it felt like more Monfils magic was on the way.

The Frenchman served for the fourth set at 5-3, but Draper dug deep in a lengthy game and finally broke through on his 11th break point of the set to get back on serve. The 23-year-old tallied five consecutive games to close out the three-hour, 11-minute victory and improve to 2-0 against Monfils in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Draper will next face #NextGenATP Brazilian Joao Fonseca, whom he defeated in the opening round of Indian Wells en route to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title.

At No. 4 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, Draper holds a 24-6 season record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. He reached his first clay-court final at tour-level in Madrid to crack the Top 5 for the first time.