Jack Draper braced for hot reception in French Open clash with Joao Fonseca
British number one Draper was taking on Czech youngster Jakub Mensik at the Miami Open when the match was interrupted after hundreds of fans started booing.
The noise was coming from a huge Brazilian contingent who had waited all day to watch teenage sensation Fonseca, only to realise his match had suddenly been moved to a different court.
Joao Fonseca has been drawing big crowds (Mike Egerton/PA)
'It was tough,' recalled Draper. 'There was a couple of games in the match where they were booing very loudly and we didn't know what was going on.
'The Miami Open got that one wrong. They'd been waiting all day, he was fourth on.
'I thought the crowd were there to watch me and when I rocked up to the court it was all 'Joao Fonseca', and I thought maybe they're not for me. It's incredible what he brings to the sport.'
If the queues snaking around Roland Garros towards Court 14 when Fonseca was beating Pierre-Hugues Herbert are anything to go by, then Draper, who silenced a raucous Paris crowd on Thursday night when he beat local hero Gael Monfils, is in for another hot reception.
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
Draper, who beat the 18-year-old at Indian Wells in their only previous meeting earlier this year, added: 'I enjoy it, I love it, I feed off it. It bodes well with my competitive nature. I'm looking forward to playing him, he's obviously a special player.
'I think I'm going to be playing him a lot. I think we'll be seeing him at the back end of draws and right at the top of the game.
'Everyone can see his potential and the way he plays, some of the stuff he comes out with is very powerful, very dynamic, very explosive and I think that's why it draws a lot of people to watch him. The huge fan base he brings from Brazil is great for the sport.
'I'll expect him to know my game now, he's played some really good stuff and kept rising up the rankings so it will be a tough challenge, especially in a grand slam on the clay.
'I'll know what to expect and not have any surprises but it will be a tough challenge for sure.'
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'Just playing seven out of 10 for 3½ hours.' We have already addressed Draper's physicality, but his mentality is equally as important. Asked this week about facing a succession of mercurial opponents, he replied: 'Being a consistent player is something I've wanted to achieve for a while now and I think I'm doing it better and better. I don't need to play my best level to win matches because I know my base level is high. 'If I'm able to play point by point I know it's tough for guys to beat me. Especially someone if they're up and down, like Monfils or Bublik, they're gonna play some great tennis and, yes, they could beat me for sure. But I know it's going to be very tough because I'm always going to be at that level.' According to Jez Green – who used to be Andy Murray's fitness trainer – the ideal clay-court mindset has an element of masochism, because anyone who comes out on this slow surface and tries to fire winners in all directions is unlikely to prevail. 'Rafa's mindset is perfect because he enjoys the whole experience of suffering,' said Green. 'He loves that clay-court feeling of building points slowly, churning out victories through sheer effort, taking the long way around.' So if Draper is going to continue his heroics next week, he will need to keep embracing the grind.
