Jack Draper Surges: Inside the British Star’s Latest Record-Breaking Win & What It Means for Wimbledon

PARIS – Jack Draper is turning his long-predicted promise into Parisian reality. Two days after grinding past Italy’s Mattia Bellucci for his maiden Roland-Garros victory, the 23-year-old Brit marched onto Court Suzanne-Lenglen and dispatched home favorite Gaël Monfils in four pulsating sets, 4-6 6-3 7-6(4) 6-2, to surge into the French Open third round for the first time in his career. British No 1 status, a top-20 ranking and now a string of statement wins on his least-proven surface are resetting expectations around Draper’s 2025 season. Already lauded for a left-handed serve that routinely kisses 135 mph and a forehand that hisses through clay, the 6ft 4in southpaw has added patience and point-construction to his arsenal—qualities that shone as he saved nine of 11 break points against Monfils, whose shot-making thrilled a prime-time Paris crowd. From injury doubts to momentum surge • Twelve months ago Draper limped out of Rome with a torn oblique, ending a spring clay swing spent mostly in physio rooms. • In December he rebuilt his fitness with a brutal block in Marbella, logging 25 hours a week on red dirt drills. • The payoff arrived early: an ATP 250 title in Estoril, a career-high ranking of No 18 and now back-to-back wins in the sport’s most demanding fortnight. “I’ve always felt my game would click on clay once my body allowed me to stay in the rallies,” Draper said, crediting longtime coach James Trotman and new performance analyst Jez Green for refining his movement patterns on the loose surface. “Tonight I proved to myself I can beat an entertainer like Gaël in his own house.” Tactical maturity on display 1. Heavy topspin forehand to Monfils’s backhand corner opened the court. 2. Short-angle backhand slices drew the Frenchman forward, neutralising his elastic defense. 3. First-serve percentage spiked from 55 % in set one to 72 % over the final two sets, eliminating free points for the crowd-favorite. Next up: a baseline chess match with No 11 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who leads their head-to-head 2-1 but has dropped sets in both opening rounds. Draper owns the lone clay victory between them—Madrid 2024—and says he will “lean on that memory” while trusting a newly bullet-proofed backhand return. Ranking ramifications Reaching the last 16 would nudge Draper to a provisional No 15, positioning him for a Wimbledon seeding that could protect him from early showdowns with Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner. A quarter-final run would crack the top 10, making him Britain’s highest-ranked man since Andy Murray’s 2017 hip surgery. Buzz beyond the baseline • Ticket resale prices for Draper-Monfils peaked at €420, the second-highest day-session figure of the week. • #DraperDelivers trended across X in both the UK and France within eight minutes of match point. • Broadcaster TNT Sports reported a 31 % spike in digital streams during the Brit’s night-session showcase. What the experts say Carlos Alcaraz: “Jack’s ball is heavy, heavier than people realise. On clay that makes him dangerous anywhere.” Sue Barker, BBC: “He’s marrying power with problem-solving. That’s the hallmark of champions.” With form, fitness and a swelling Parisian fan-base converging, Draper suddenly looks less like a breakout story and more like a second-week certainty. Should he navigate Tsitsipas, a potential clash with world No 2 Daniil Medvedev looms—an opportunity to announce, on clay’s grandest stage, that Britain’s next standard-bearer has emphatically arrived.