Jack Draper Warns ATP Players of ‘Scary’ Joao Fonseca After Ending His Roland Garros Campaign

Jack Draper improved his head-to-head record over Joao Fonseca to 2-0 after thrashing him at the French Open.

Jack Draper Warns ATP Players of ‘Scary’ Joao Fonseca After Ending His Roland Garros Campaign

Joao Fonseca, Jack Draper (Image via X/TNT Sports, The Tennis Letter)

Brazilian sensation Joao Fonseca was no match for Jack Draper in the third round of the French Open. With the scoreline of 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, the Briton secured a berth in the fourth round of the clay-court Major for the first time.

Even though the match lasting an hour and 49 minutes was an easy affair for Draper, he knows what kind of a player Fonseca could become in the next few years. It was his maiden appearance at the Roland Garros and before his exit, he went past Hubert Hurkacz and Pierre-Hugues Herbert without dropping a set.

The performance helped the 18-year-old climb 10 places up to occupy the 56th spot in the live rankings. This was Fonseca’s best performance at a Grand Slam event as prior to the clay-court Major, he had progressed to the second round of the Australian Open, where he made his Grand Slam main draw debut. Draper, in his press conference after the match, was all praise for the teenager and stated that he could foresee Fonseca becoming a scary player in the future.

How old is he…18? That’s pretty impressive. I’m 23, so that’s five years…he just needs time. He’s already top 50 in the world. He’s doing incredible things. His experience and everything is only gonna grow with more matches. More experience playing top players. More time practicing around. It’s only gonna go up for him. I think it’s gonna be scary what he’s gonna be able to achieve.

It was Draper’s second win over the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals winner this year, following the second round of Indian Wells, which the Briton later won by beating Holger Rune. Draper, before this season, had never made it past the first round at the Roland Garros. He will next be locking horns with Alexander Bublik, again whom, he holds a 2-0 head-to-head lead.

Jannik Sinner reveals why he doesn’t practice with Jack Draper much

Jannik Sinner shares a good bond off the court with Jack Draper, with whom he practiced in Monte Carlo while serving his three-month doping ban. Draper will meet Sinner if they beat their fourth-round opponents Alexander Bublik and Andrey Rublev, respectively.

Jannik Sinner, Jack Draper
Jannik Sinner, Jack Draper (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ, British Tennis Players)

They have met twice on tour, with both winning a match each. Ahead of their potential clash, Sinner, during the press conference after his third-round win over Jiri Lehecka, explained why they have limited their training sessions.

I am good friends with him and I am very happy to have him as a friend. Of course, we are very good friends off the court, but we practice a little bit less together because we might know that we might face each other in the later stages of tournaments, hopefully, because I always love to play against him.

Both Sinner and Lehecka have won a tournament this season. Sinner defended his Australian Open crown by breezing past World No.3 Alexander Zverev, while Draper won at Indian Wells. If Draper and Sinner meet in the last eight, the winner of the match could set up a semifinal clash with three-time French Open champion Novak Djokovic, who is chasing his historic 25th Grand Slam title in the tournament.

Draper also made it to the final of the Madrid Open but lost the title to Casper Ruud. The French Open is Sinner’s third tournament this season and he has reached the final of the two events he played before arriving in Paris (won the Australian Open and lost the Italian Open final to Carlos Alcaraz).

Sinner, with his victory over Lehecka, extended his Grand Slam match-winning streak to 17 as last year, he also lifted his first US Open title. He is 15-1 on the tour.

Also read: Jannik Sinner Shares Insightful Solution to the Women’s Scheduling Debate at Roland Garros