ROLAND GARROS

May 31, 2025

Jack Draper

Press Conference

J. DRAPER/J. Fonseca

6-2, 6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Congrats, Jack. Can you walk us through the match today? That was a great win.

JACK DRAPER: Yeah. I think it was a solid performance from my side. Did a good job. Tough conditions. Felt like I started off well, and my level didn't really dip throughout the match. A slight wobble to close out the second set, but apart from that, yeah, it was a good match against a good, up-and-coming player.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. The dropshot was incredibly effective today. How much of that was a plan that you and Trots had come up with going in, and how much of it was just you being like, Oh, it's working really well, so I'm just going to keep on doing it?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I think it was a bit of that, to be honest. I felt like, you know, I was pushing him back with my forehand quite a lot, and then that shot was open. I felt like obviously maybe physically he was struggling a little bit towards the back end of the second and in the third set, as well.

It was a good play, because it takes a lot out of you having to run for dropshots, and I was hitting them for once pretty well today. So it was a good play.

I think when you are pushing someone back with the heavy forehands or something like that, then, you know, they're not expecting that one.

Q. Do you feel like he's kind of maybe where you were a couple years ago where he has all the raw materials but hasn't quite worked out sort of his best way of playing them yet?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, probably. You know, I think it's obviously physically more difficult in the Grand Slams, as well. You know, he's in the third round.

How old is he, 18? Pretty impressive. I mean, I'm 23, so that's five years, and the amount I've changed in one year. So I think he just needs time. He's already, what, top 50 in the world, and he's doing incredible things.

His experience and everything is only going to grow more matches, more experience playing top players, more time practicing around. You know, I think it's just, yeah, only going to go up for him. I think it's going to be scary what he's going to be able to achieve, for sure.

Q. On the dropshots, again, you're never complimentary of them normally. I'm curious, in general, there are some players who kind of stick to what they are most comfortable with and what their strengths are, whereas you play them a lot and maybe do other things that aren't necessarily in your comfort zone. How important is that for you to push yourself out of that comfort zone and not just do what feels most comfortable?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, it feels pretty natural to play them in matches. I don't practice dropshots. I always say to my coach -- we don't practice dropshots, because I will just hit them worse, you know (laughter). The more I practice them, the worse I get.

It just comes to me naturally in matches, because, like I said, you know, I'm able to push opponents back off the court, and then that makes me feel comfortable to hit a dropshot, because maybe they don't have to be that great, because, you know, they're so far back.

Yeah, most of the stuff in my game is within my comfort zone. Serve/volley, sometimes I will use that. I feel comfortable serving and volleying, but I could do that more. Against the best players in the world, you have to mix it up more and more. I felt like, yeah, it was a shot that I used well today, and it was effective.

Q. Just to follow up, I guess on your opponent, it looked a little bit for him today like it was too big of a step up in quality of opponent playing you. I wondered when you were coming through, similar age, what were the things that rocked you back about, well, I'm used to winning matches, and suddenly I'm playing guys -- like when you played Novak maybe at Wimbledon, what were the things that kind of stood out to you?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I think in Grand Slams as well, the physical challenge, that gets in your head a little bit, thinking, you know, it's one thing beating guys ranked 30 to 100, five sets, but obviously playing, you know, someone who is confident and someone who is playing good tennis, to feel like you have to win three sets is a big, physical challenge. I think that's tough when you haven't played loads of Grand Slam events.

I think obviously maybe just that experience of beating top, top players, if you don't have that, then maybe you feel a little bit like you have to do a lot with your tennis. You have to overplay maybe.

I think last couple of times I played against Joao, he's come out really aggressive, and, you know, I'm physical, I'm able to get behind ball after ball. Therefore, maybe he feels like he needs to do too much.

But I think, yeah, it's just experience, time and experience, exposure to playing against the best players in the world, and that only enhances your belief because you have been there and done it before, and you'll do it again.

Q. As someone was saying, you have been through the process he's going through now. Now you have made this huge leap in the last year. I just wonder, is there a match that you could pinpoint where you felt things are different now? Maybe not that I've cracked it, but I feel differently about where I am?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah. I mean, after I lost here last year, I was at a stage when I was, you know, I got to No. 40 in the world, and I was trying to, you know, figure out what I was going to have to do to make a leap in my tennis.

I guess there wasn't really any match that really changed it for me. I think winning my first title, that was the biggest thing for me, because I felt like, you know, I think I had been in two or three finals, and I always say that sometimes in tennis that you can be a top, top player, but you might not have anything to your name.

Sometimes it's nice to know at least I have won a title. At least I have done something.

So I think that was a big weight off my shoulders last year when I won Stuttgart, and then I saw progress from there, really. That gave me the belief that I was, you know, right there. And making the semis of the US Open gave me that same effect.

I think the more that I have accomplished, that's just helped me more and more to believe that I'm a top player. That, mixed with being really consistent in my practices, like being able to play against the best players in the world, learn from them, practice with them.

I don't know. It's just a mixture of everything. But I would say confidence is one. It's a confidence sport. But the main thing is being consistent in what I'm trying to do with my tennis and finding, I guess, the blueprint of my game which has only come together more and more.

Q. Connected to what you were just saying about the US Open's effect on your self-belief, are there things you learned during that deep run there in New York that you can apply to other Grand Slam tournaments and the differences that there are between playing a Grand Slam and playing a one-week event?

JACK DRAPER: Yeah, I mean, there is definitely differences. I think, you know, you have to sometimes pick your moments when to really push hard and when to maybe step your foot off the gas a little bit in Grand Slam matches.

You know, the first couple of games of sets are really important to get your foot in the door, especially if you have maybe won the first set. I don't know. I want to get the point where I feel like I'm able to push really hard physically, like all the time.

But I think you learn to sort of, yeah, like I said, when to push and when not to. The run in New York was great for me. I think the more times I have played five-set matches, whether it be three sets, four sets, it just helps you to feel like you have done it more and more times.

I think of Andy and Novak and all those top guys, and they've just played hundreds and hundreds of these matches. I don't know how many they've played, but it just helps every time you step out there in a Grand Slam match and you complete another one. That just banks more experience, I suppose.

I guess getting to the semifinal, that helped me massively.

Q. Jack, you have two straightforward wins now over Fonseca. I know you've spoken about he has less experience than you. He's still been able to beat top players like Rublev. Do you think it's also a bit of a matchup thing? And what is it about your game versus his?

JACK DRAPER: I don't know. I feel like both times I have played him it's been hot, in the heat of the day, and I've been able to get the ball rising on him. He's someone who likes to really hit through the court and hit hard. When the ball's up here, shoulder height, it's harder to -- and I keep on hitting winners and going after the ball, I guess when I'm able to get behind every ball and the ball is coming back, it's harder, and he feels like he has to maybe go for more and more.

I feel like the times I have played him, yeah, like, it's just I'm able to get the ball back with quality more and more, and that's, yeah, he feels like he has to go for too much. That's what it feels like.

He served really well today at the start. I feel like I got a lot of returns back, and that puts pressure on, as well. I served well myself.

I don't know. I don't want to say it's a good matchup for me, because I think I'm going to play him many more times, and I think he's only going to improve and get better and better, but definitely, these first couple of times I played him, I felt like my quality has been really good.