Mats Wilander is keen to observe Jack Draper across the next week or two, to see if he has what it takes to win the French Open.
The 60-year-old certainly knows a thing or two about achieving success in Paris, after all, having won the event on three separate occasions.
A hard-working baseliner with a killer backhand slice, he played the conditions at the French Open perfectly to make himself a constant threat for the title.
And, assessing who might follow in his illustrious footsteps from Britain’s ranks, there was one who stood out.
Mats Wilander will be watching Jack Draper carefully at Roland Garros
Chatting with TNT Sports about British hopes in Paris, he had to focus on Jack Draper.
After all, the 23-year-old is the world number five heading into the event, and thus the overwhelming British number one too.
However, the Swede does fear for the Brit, with the conditions sure to play a part in any success he might enjoy across the next few weeks. Wilander admitted: ‘I didn’t know if he had the game or not. I knew that he had the attitude. It seems like he’s extremely fit these days.
‘I wasn’t sure that his game was big enough, that he could actually handle the best players. But it’s very interesting that he played well in Indian Wells, where it’s slow, high-bouncing. Madrid, where it’s high-bouncing, maybe not so slow.’
‘I’m really interested in how he deals with heavier conditions in Paris if the weather is how it is today. What is going to be his strength on those days?
’Usually, it’s the mindset, you’ve got to be aggressive when it’s slow. You can’t play defence.’
Draper said he wants advice from Andy Murray once the French Open is finished, which could end up helping him at all Grand Slam events going forward.
Do the French Open conditions favour Jack Draper?
For Draper, clay-court tennis in general seems like it would dull his game somewhat.
After all, this slower surface and higher bounce often favour patience and heavy topspin, nullifying the extreme power that he and many others possess.
Similarly, his serve suffers too, which remains one of his biggest weapons.
However, he proved his ability to more than compete in Madrid, storming to the final of another Masters 1000 event where he lost to a specialist in Casper Ruud.
| French Open 2025 | Draper’s Potential Opponent |
| First Round | Mattia Bellucci |
| Second Round | Gael Monfils/Hugo Dellien |
| Third Round | Hubert Hurkacz (30)/Joao Fonseca/Benjamin Bonzi |
| Fourth Round | Alex de Minaur (9)/Jakub Mensik (19)/Alexandre Muller |
| Quarter-final | Jannik Sinner (1)/Arthur Fils (14)/Andrey Rublev (17)/Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (26) |
| Semi-final | Alexander Zverev (3)/Novak Djokovic (6)/Daniil Medvedev (11)/Grigor Dimitrov (16) |
| Final | Carlos Alcaraz (2)/Taylor Fritz (4)/Casper Ruud (7)/Lorenzo Musetti (8) |
Roland Garros poses a completely new threat altogether though, with notoriously heavy balls and the potential for rain sure to slow play down.
Conversely, if it remains hot, dry and sunny, this event can play almost as fast as a grass court.
Frustratingly for Draper, the weather forecast for the upcoming week seems overcast and rainy, which will be precisely what Wilander wants to observe his ability to adapt.
