PARIS — Jack Draper booked his spot in the third round of the French Open after defeating Gael Monfils on Thursday evening.
Draper became the third British hope in the men’s singles to qualify for the next stage thanks to a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Monfils in the night match after Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley both came through their matches earlier in the day. Norrie will face Fearnley in an all-British third round clash, while Draper will play Brazilian hope Joao Fonseca.
On the women’s side, both Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal were defeated in their second round matches on Thursday.
Norrie saw off Argentinean Federico Gomez 7-6 (7), 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday afternoon to book his spot in the third round while Fearnley came through his match after opponent Ugo Humbert was forced to retire after a heavy fall in their second set.
CompetitionScheduleWinnersAustralian OpenJan. 6 – Jan. 27Sinner, KeysFrench OpenMay 25 – June 8WimbledonJune 22 – July 14US OpenAug. 17 – Sep. 8
Elsewhere, Boulter fell in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 to Madison Keys, and Kartal lost earlier in the day to Marie Bouzkova. Their departure followed Emma Raducanu’s exit, after she fell to Iga Swiatek in straight sets on Wednesday.
In front of a hostile crowd, Draper broke Monfils in the third game and then again at 5-3 to take the first set. Draper was utilising his full breadth of shots as he pushed and pulled much-loved veteran Monfils, 38, around the court, unleashing his forehand to great effect. Against a backdrop of overwhelming support for Monfils, Draper looked to be managing the pressure as he showed the type of form that has seen him rise to No.5 in the world to take the first set 6-3.
But then the balance of the match switched. The two went toe-to-toe for the first four games in the second set, but in the fifth, unforced errors crept into Draper’s game and a long forehand from him saw Monfils take a break of serve. The crowd grew even louder, and reached fever pitch levels in the seventh game as Monfils hit a forehand winner down the line, and then drew Draper to the net, before volleying back into clear open court.
After each point, Monfils stretched his arms out to the crowd, who bellowed their support in return. Monfils drew two break points, striking the first into the net but then smashing away the next with a booming forehand to go 5-2 up. Draper re-found the range on his forehand to break back in the next to force three break points of his own. He sent the first long, but took the next, as Monfils put a backhand wide.
Draper held serve, but it was Monfils who took the second set 6-4 as the atmosphere grew ever more claustrophobic for the Brit.
Draper got the third set off to the perfect start as he broke Monfils to make it 2-0, only to then make a series of uncharacteristic errors on his forehand to let the Frenchman break back into the set. But that was a rare blip for Draper as he then took control, breaking Monfils back straight away, and then served out to take the third set, 6-3.
Draper forced a break point in the opening game of the fourth set, only for Monfils to hold. Draper looked frustrated, venting his irritation towards his coaching box. His game started to see those errors creep back in, as the support rose again for Monfils. It looked like Draper was going to hold firm, but Monfils somehow found another level, and broke Draper to go 4-2 up.
Monfils saved four break points in the next game to hold serve, as the noise inside Chatrier rose a few more decibels. Draper managed to break back in the ninth game, but failed to pull away despite Monfils frequently doubled over in pain. Remarkably, Monfils forced two set points at 5-4, but Draper saved them and, in the 11th game, Draper finally found a way to get through Monfils’ serve, to go 6-5 up.
And serving for the match, Draper secured his spot in the fourth round. Draper now faces the mouthwatering tie against Fonseca on Saturday.
“My brain was fried out here,” Draper said during his on-court interview. “I’m not sure if I am going to go to sleep tonight because my brain is just all over the place with what he was doing out here.
“That’s why [Monfils] has had such a successful career and is loved by all the fans. The players love to watch him play as well but not to play against him. He is a joker, he is a magician, he does everything. Huge respect to him.
“There were times where I was very frustrated but I reminded myself that this is why I put in the hard work to play on courts like this in front of you guys. It is something I enjoyed while I was playing even though it didn’t look like it.”
Norrie was the first British men’s hope through after he dispatched an injured Gomez on a humid Thursday afternoon. Norrie had navigated an epic five-set match against Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday and he was third on Court 13 against Gomez, who knocked out Aleksandar Kovacevic in the first round.
Norrie was made to battle through the first set against the big-hitting Argentine as he took the tiebreak 9-7, as Gomez managed to save six set points before succumbing. Norrie then took the opening game of the second set as Gomez was growing visibly frustrated with his seventh double fault. That seventh resulted in Gomez slamming his racket to the floor.
Editor’s Picks
2 Related
The Brit then broke Gomez again in the fifth and ended up taking the second set 6-2. Norrie kept his foot on the throttle in the third, breaking Gomez early with the Argentine in visible discomfort. He looked to be struggling with both back and leg troubles and from there Norrie closed things out. He will play either Fearnley or Ugo Humbert on Saturday.
“It was completely different kind of a match today,” Norrie said. “Different emotions going into the match being the favourite. Really different playing on a much smaller court. I was obviously a bit nervous for the match. I was excited as well.
“I played a very steady kind of six, seven out of 10 for the whole time. Yeah, it showed in the score. I was very happy with the way I handled it. I felt I didn’t play amazing, didn’t play that badly. Didn’t give him much. So it was a good day.”
Fearnley had taken the opening set 6-3 against Humbert but was a break down in the second when the French 22nd seed appeared to hurt his ankle as he took a rough fall while sliding to his forehand side. While he returned to the court after a lengthy medical timeout, he walked to the net to retire just a few points later after dropping serve with the score at 4-4.
“Obviously happy to be in the third round. But yeah, definitely not the way I would have wanted to do it,” Fearnley said.
“To be honest, I was really enjoying playing the tennis out there. Hope Ugo is OK and hope he recovers quick. I actually didn’t see [the injury happen]. That’s why I felt a little bit bad because I kind of looked at my team straightaway after I hit that. I think I hit a backhand down the line. I still hadn’t seen what it was that happened.
“I saw him on the floor. I went over to check he was OK. Obviously he had to retire from the French Open and I’m sure he wouldn’t do that unless it was really bad.”
Elsewhere, on a quiet Court Philippe-Chatrier, Boulter faced Australian Open champion Keys.
Boulter battled past Carole Monnet in three sets 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1 on Tuesday, but Keys offered an altogether sterner test.
A double fault from Boulter handed Keys a break of serve in the fourth game, and then Keys forced three break points in the sixth as Boulter struggled to find her range. Boulter managed to claw those back, but after a lengthy exchange at deuce, she double-faulted to give Keys her second break, and from there she served out to take the first set 6-1.
Keys broke Boulter again at the start of the second with double faults again letting the Brit down. In contrast, Keys’ serve was ruthless, and kept Boulter at bay. Boulter’s serve was again far too unreliable in the fifth as she made her eighth double fault of the match. That handed Keys a second break of serve, but Boulter still rallied.
She got one break of serve back to make it 5-3, but Keys responded with her fifth break of serve to take the third set 6-3. Keys will play the winner of Victoria Azarenka’s match with Sofia Kenin.
“Yeah, I feel like I could have done better. I do,” Boulter said. “I think that’s where I have to look at myself and talk to my team a little bit about where I can improve.
“But I felt like I didn’t have a great serving day. I think if you don’t have a great serving day against someone like that, you’re always under pressure on your own serve. I think almost every service game I hit a double-fault, which I’ve done that before and kind of bounced back. Against someone like that, with that calibre behind her, you just can’t afford to do that.
“I think that’s where I was a little bit disappointed in my serving today. Maybe if I’d served a little bit better, I could have put some more pressure on her service games. I felt like at the very start I was doing that in the first two games, after that when I got broken, I didn’t have much to look in.
“That’s the difference with these players. When they gain a little bit of confidence, they start swinging free a little bit more. Ultimately they’re going to try to put you away as quickly as possible. They’ve got that number by their name for that reason. You’ve got to try to stay with them as much as possible. Unfortunately I let it go a little bit early today.”
Back at the start of day five, Kartal was knocked out in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 to Bouzkova. Kartal had come through a first round clash against Erika Andreeva, but fell short against Bouzkova.
