1 day ago
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
