Fresh off a titanic victory over Gael Monfils, Jack Draper locks horns with wonderkid Joao Fonseca in Saturday's French Open third-round contest.
Draper overcame Monfils in a physically demanding second-round match that lasted over three hours, setting up a second meeting with Fonseca, who has yet to drop a set in rounds one and two in his Roland Garros debut.
Match preview
© Iconsport
Fonseca's maiden appearance at Roland Garros is going swimmingly for the 18-year-old, whose clay expertise has aided straight-set wins over Hubert Hurkacz and home player Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
Although defeating the Geneva Open runner-up as comfortably in three sets was unforeseen, the Brazilian was favourite against Herbert, even if the Frenchman had the supporters' support in Thursday's contest.
The second-round success needed Fonseca to overturn a break in the opening two sets before edging out the home player in tiebreaks and sealing the third for a 7-6(4) 7-6(4) 6-4 triumph.
Now into the third round of a Slam for the first time, the wonderkid has already outdone his Australian Open performance, when he exited in round two after a tournament-opening victory over Andrey Rublev.
Although Fonseca has since won his first ATP title on the clay courts in Buenos Aires and a Challenger crown in Phoenix after that admirable first-round showing to beat Rublev Down Under, he entered the second major of 2025 with an underwhelming record, losing three consecutive matches to Tommy Paul, Jesper de Jong and Fabian Marozsan.
© Imago
However, consecutive wins on the tour for the first time since March in Miami have boosted the young player's prospects of a positive run at the second major of the year on his favourite surface.
Facing Draper after the pair's first matchup at Indian Wells in early March poses a different set of challenges against a top 10 player fresh off a stirring victory over Monfils on Thursday night on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
While the partisan support witnessed Le Monf's tournament-opening success from two sets down, the fifth seed had too much for the 38-year-old Frenchman, who nearly forced another decider serving for the set at 5-4 in the fourth, only for the Brit to rally to claim a 75-minute fourth set and seal a 6-3 4-6 6-3 7-5 victory.
The world No. 5 entered this year's French Open having never secured a win in his previous two appearances in 2023 and 2014, but he has now clinched victories in rounds one and two to come within another win of reaching the fourth round at a Grand Slam for a fourth time after the US Open in 2023 (fourth round) and 2024 (semi-finals) and in this year's Aussie Open (fourth round).
A positive clay season this year saw the 23-year-old reach the title match in Madrid and quarter-finals in Rome, which meant he entered the second major of 2025 at 9-3 on the dirt.
Two more victories have seen Draper improve to 11-3 on clay this season, and the world No. 5 seeks a 12th triumph against his teenage opponent to secure a fourth-round match with Alexander Bublik or Henrique Rocha.
Tournament so far
Joao Fonseca:
First round: vs. Hubert Hurkacz 6-2 6-4 6-2
Second round: vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6[4] 7-6[4] 6-4
Jack Draper:
First round: vs. Mattia Bellucci 3-6 6-1 6-4 6-2
Second round: vs. Gael Monfils 6-3 4-6 6-3 7-5
Head To Head
Indian Wells (2025) - Second round: Draper 6-4 6-0
Fonseca was comfortably beaten in his first meeting with Draper on the ATP Tour, with the British No. 1 claiming a straight-sets win en route to securing the Masters 1000 crown at Indian Wells.
The Brazilian's only previous top-10 encounter came Down Under, where the then qualifier upset Rublev in the opening round at the Australian Open to advance to the second round.
However, Draper's record against opponents ranked below 51st has seen the Brit lose once in 19 matches against such opponents in nearly a year after his Roland Garros exit 12 months ago, falling to Jakub Mensik in Miami.
We say: Draper to win in four sets
Draper's battling qualities often mean his court coverage, defensive ability and ball-striking off both wings take a back seat.
Having secured 18 wins from 19 contests against players outside the top 50, the British star is predicted to record a 19th in 20 against Fonseca to reach the fourth round in Paris for the first time.
