'I love this player': Gael Monfils full of praise for Jack Draper despite losing French Open second-round encounter

French veteran tennis player Gael Monfils has praised Britain’s Jack Draper. Both players faced off in the second round of the French Open 2025, where the 23-year-old came out on top in a four-set contest with a score of 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Monfils, while talking to the media after the match, was full of praise for Draper and stated that he was ‘happy’ for the youngster. The 38-year-old said that he ‘loves’ Draper as a ‘player’ and believes that the 2024 US Open semifinalist has made ‘a lot’ of progress in the recent past. Monfils was also of the opinion that with his confidence high, it is not going to be easy to get the better of Draper for anyone.

“A great night. A great match,” said Monfils. “Above all, I was happy, because of course he’s feeling very confident, but I did manage to tease him a little bit. I love this player. I love the way he plays, because he plays a very fast backhand … when Jack was young, he really had the best backhand. Maybe he had fewer points. But he was more solid in the backhand, and he’s progressed a lot on his forehand now. He’s a left-hander who goes very fast along the line. That’s not common, and he moves really well on the court. Where he’s really progressed is that he really returns really well. He’s far from the baseline, and the ball’s always in at the right speed, the right course, and he’s made a tremendous amount of progress in that regard. So a Jack who is feeling very self-confident like that is very difficult to manoeuvre.”

Draper will now face Brazil’s young sensation Joao Fonseca in the third round at the Roland Garros on Saturday. The 18-year-old cemented his spot in the round of 32 of the mega-event after beating France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 7-6, 6-4.