Jack Draper battles past local favourite Gael Monfils in French Open

Jack Draper shone under the night sky in Paris as he battled past local favourite Gael Monfils to reach the third round of the French Open.

Draper, the British number one, survived being tied up in knots at times by the tricky veteran and emerged with a 6-3 4-6 6-3 7-5 victory on Court Phillippe-Chatrier.

The 22-year-old from London will face teenage Brazilian Joao Fonseca on Saturday for a place in round four.

With Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley also through, Britain has three men in the third round for the first time since 1968.

“First off, I have to acknowledge Gael,” said Draper. “It’s my first time on this court. What a battle against someone I admire. He is a joker, a magician, he does everything.

“Huge respect to him. I hope he is able to play here one more time again in the future.

“This is why I play tennis, to play in front of big crowds and to play in matches like this whether the crowd are with me or against me.”

Monfils is now 38 but still remains such a handful, especially at Roland Garros in front of a boisterous French crowd.

Too often Draper, now the world number five, allowed himself to be dragged around the court rather than taking the initiative and moving his opponent around.

He had kept the locals quiet by taking the first set but Monfils, who proved he should never be written off after coming through a bruising five-setter against Hugo Dellien on Tuesday night, surged away with the second.

Draper was certainly unsettled, and the error count on his forehand side was beginning to rise alarmingly.

But that set took a lot out of Monfils as Draper took control of the third, wrapping it up with a deft drop volley.

In the fourth Draper had his head in his hands after a bad miss on another break point, Monfils quickly wriggling out of trouble with a hold for 3-2.

Things reached crisis point for the Brit moments later when a double-fault gave away a break.

Monfils stood grinning at the crowd after swatting away two break-back points, and then tried to look apologetic when a double net cord dropped on Draper’s side.

But Monfils was flagging and Draper made the break point count in the next, eventually taking the final four games for a memorable victory,

“My brain was fried out there,” added Draper. “I’m not sure if I am going to go to sleep because my brain is just all over the place with what he was doing out here.

“There were times where I was very frustrated but I reminded myself that this is why I put in the hard work to play on courts like this. It is something I enjoyed while I was playing – even though it didn’t look like it.”