For some time now there have been indications that Rafael Jodar, another Spaniard, is on his way to the top of tennis. At the French Open, Alexander Zverev’s quarter-final opponent shows, in addition to his playing class, new, extraordinary qualities that further increase his chance of an outstanding career.
It is well known that tennis is not a sport in which age determines who has better endurance. Far too often, the supposedly “old” have shown the “young” that even after several hours on the tennis court, they still have enough strength to win a game. Matches with three winning sets in particular are not a sprint in which you pull through, but also a question of the right timing of the use of your power.
Players who are just starting out in their careers often make the mistake of wanting too much too quickly and never putting their game into economy mode. That’s why, especially in men’s tennis, there are rarely very young players who last very long at the big tournaments. Rafael Jodar is one of those rare exceptions. It was already clear that the Spaniard can play excellent tennis, as well as how strong he is in terms of fitness and nerves, but this is new and impressive.
Jodar needed over 3.5 hours more than Zverev to reach the quarterfinals
At the French Open, Jodar shows enormous taking qualities. On his way to the quarter-finals against Alexander Zverev, the 19-year-old was on the verge of elimination twice and twice he managed an impressive comeback. In the youngster duel in the second round, Alex Michelsen had already flirted with advancing with a 2-1 set lead, then Jodar hit back with 6:3, 6:3. In the round of 16, the Spaniard even lost 0-2 against Pablo Carreno Busta – and then only lost five games.
Zverev now knows that he cannot write off Jodar at any time, no matter how comfortable a lead seems to be. But it will also be exciting to see how the shooting star answers the strength question, because he has already played 12:53 hours in the first four rounds at the French Open, while Zverev only played 9:17 hours. The German tennis star and Paris favorite after Jannik Sinner’s elimination and Carlos Alcaraz’s cancellation has so far “walked” through the tournament compared to Jodar.
Zverev thinks Jodar is “fantastic”
“It’s a great time when you’re at the beginning of your career. There’s no pressure, you can play freely and experience these things for the first time, it’s a lot of fun in this position. But I also like my position because I know how to deal with certain situations.”said Zverev and admitted: “I think he’s fantastic. He plays great tennis and I’m looking forward to our first duel, which I hope will be entertaining.”
Jodar tries this game “to enjoy and learn a lot” – which certainly doesn’t mean that he comes to Court Philippe Chartrier on Tuesday as a student, but as a young man who is ready to fight for a place in the semi-finals. “It’s a quarter-final against one of the best players in the world. Of course I’m going into the game with full commitment and the belief that I’ll win. If I play to my strengths, I can win.”said Jodar.
After two Masters quarterfinals one step further?
For the teenager, it is the biggest game of his career, which only really began this year. The French Open is only his eleventh professional tournament; at the end of March, Jodar won his first title in Marrakesh (Morocco) – on clay. He recently made it to the quarterfinals on his favorite surfaces at the Masters tournaments in Madrid and Rome, and now he wants to go at least one step further in Paris.
Jodar describes being in the last eight at the French Open as “Gift” – but he didn’t get that for free, he had to work very hard for it. The fact that he did this at the age of 19 is perhaps the most impressive thing about him, because being able to fight like that and deal with setbacks at such a young age is perhaps an even greater blessing in the long term than his strong punches. Jodar is not only young and strong, but above all he is incredibly tough.
