By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday May 30, 2025
Paris – Gael Monfils learned the hard way just how many improvements Jack Draper has made to his game.
The 38-year-old Frenchman threw everything he had at Draper in an epic Paris night session on Thursday, and could only manage to take a set from the 23-year-old menace.
After the match, Monfils said he has immense respect for Draper’s game.
“I love this player,” Monfils said. “I love the way he plays, because he plays a very fast backhand. When Jack was young, he really had the best backhand.
But he’s progressed a lot on his forehand now. Now he really produces pure power with his forehand, and he manages to really roll the ball along the line. He’s a left-hander who goes very fast along the line. That’s not common, and he moves really well on the court.”
Monfils says that in addition to the forehand, Draper is also returning better.
“Where he’s really progressed is that he really returns really well,” he said. “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 maneuver.”
This is what our sport is all about.❤️#draper #monfils #rolandgarros pic.twitter.com/OcA0gp0EDb
— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 29, 2025
In a physical encounter on slow clay in night conditions, Draper stayed the course and handled Monfils and the rowdy Parisian crowd. It was more proof that the fifth-ranked Brit is ready for prime time.
“Every point was hard,” Monfils said. “No easy points. He was really returning the balls very well. He really played his game well. Honestly, I couldn’t do a lot. I played my forehand down the line. It went out. And he played well after that.”
Not the end result Monfils wanted, but anyone who watched the match knows that Monfils has nothing to hang his head about. To play like that at age 38? Against a peaking power 15 years his junior? Chapeau, Lamonf.
On TNT Chris Eubanks called the second set one of the best sets of tennis he had ever seen.
“A great night. A great match,” Monfils said. “Above all, I was happy, because of course he’s feeling very self-confident, but I did manage to, you know, tease him a little bit.”
