Draper outclasses rising star Fonseca at French Open
Jack Draper has reached the fourth round at the past three Grand Slams [Getty Images]
French Open 2025
Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland Garros
Coverage: Live radio commentaries across 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app
Britain's Jack Draper underlined his status as one of the world's leading players with a ruthlessly efficient win over Brazilian rising star Joao Fonseca in the French Open third round.
Fifth seed Draper was a cut above his 18-year-old opponent in a 6-2 6-4 6-2 victory.
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Fonseca only broke into the world's top 100 earlier this year, but has created a buzz with his explosive style and ferocious forehand.
Draper quickly diffused what could have been a tricky encounter, showing his superior quality and experience from the start.
"Joao has caught the attention of the players and the fans. Today my experience came through," Draper said.
The 23-year-old Englishman, who had never won a match at Roland Garros until this week, will face either Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik or Portugal's Henrique Rocha in the fourth round.
There is also guaranteed to be a second British man in the last 16 with Jacob Fearnley and Cameron Norrie playing each other later on Saturday.
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Mature Draper diffuses Brazilian energy
Draper has developed into a top player with ambitions of challenging for the biggest titles over the past 12 months.
Possessing tools which are effective across all surfaces has seen Draper turn into a French Open contender.
Reaching the Madrid Open final was an early sign of improvement and his performances in Paris have backed that up.
Patience was needed in victories over Italy's Mattia Bellucci and French veteran Gael Monfils. It was similar against Fonseca - by biding his time in the rallies and picking attacking shots at the right time, Draper quickly gained control.
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In increasingly faster conditions, the speed and spin of Draper's forehand was particularly difficult for Fonseca to handle as the Briton quickly went a double break up.
A double fault for 30-30 in the eighth game offered Fonseca faint hope, before Draper rediscovered his first serve and returned well to take the opening set in 29 minutes.
Momentum - and crowd support - started to build for Fonseca in a tighter second set, but Draper quickly extinguished hope with solid service games.
He broke for a 4-3 lead which - after saving two break points in the 10th game - was enough for a two-set lead.
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Draper continued to play smartly at the start of the third set, mixing depth of return with deft drop-shots on his way to wrapping up victory.
Tempestuous teen still not the real deal
The hype around Fonseca has continued to grow - but this was another reminder of how he still needs time to develop.
A carnival mood led by thousands of Brazilians has followed Fonseca from Melbourne to Paris this year.
Fans patiently queue to see his matches on the smaller courts at the majors, with some people setting up camp at Roland Garros hours before his first two matches.
But his clash against Draper being switched to the ticket-only Court Suzanne Lenglen late on Friday evening - after home favourite Arthur Fils withdrew from the tournament injured - worked in the Briton's favour.
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While there was plenty of Brazilian support - easily identified by splashes of yellow and green national flags and Selecao football shirts - it was far from a difficult atmosphere for Draper to handle.
"Joao hasn't played as many Grand Slams as I have but he has got an unbelievably bright future so all the best to him," Draper added.
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You don't want s*** decisions to slip in, you don't want arrogance, you don't want the lack of concentration, you don't s****y bouncing passes. You want to be on it. 'I want 10 minutes of clean, controlled, stand-tall, chest-out, 'We are the champions, we will play that way'. No s***, don't want any s***e. It finishes 4-0.' Advertisement Only once does he take any real pleasure from an attacking action: Vitinha on 62 minutes when he sprints over to take a free kick short in PSG's own half. He plays one-twos with Hakimi and Marquinhos, the latter finding him with his back to goal against the press, and the No 6 turns before he splits Inter with a pass to Dembele's feet. Then he runs on to complete another one-two from Dembele's backheel, and threads through Doue with PSG on a three-v-two overload. The pass is so well weighted that the teenager, sprinting, can finish one-touch past Sommer at the near post. It's Desire Doue's world and we're just living in it 🌟 The 19-year-old makes it two goals and an assist in the Champions League final 🔥 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 31, 2025 Presumably owing to the coaching Cathro gave Vitinha when he was on loan at Wolves in 2020-21? 'No, it's not! He'd done that himself, that goal,' he responds, enthusing about 'the intensity in all of his positioning and all of his actions and all his asks for the ball, deep in his own half, to then decide, 'I'll actually run forward'. It changed everything. I thought, 'Why are you running forward?' 'Technically, he had all of those things when he was at Wolves. The intensity he didn't have, or the taking responsibility aspect. It was just going through time. We didn't really do much for him. 'He certainly would have wanted a lot more out of his time at Wolves — you're a really talented kid that comes through an academy, always winning, always playing, then you arrive at a club and Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves are the two midfielders, so you're not playing. They're playing, and it's as simple as that. Because they're better. 'But it was an important year for him. He probably needed the difficulty and the sort of realisation of how difficult it is, and that's probably what happened. He grew up a lot, it got him ready for when he went back to Porto and he really excelled.' Cathro summarises it as 'a game where a team playing fearless and being themselves outdoes the more wise, strategic approach — I think that's healthy for football. 'PSG finally winning with this team is also healthy. A young, hungry, obviously highly talented, high-potential team, that functions a lot more as a team.' 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