Tennis, Masters 1000 Madrid, Sinner on Jodar: “He will achieve incredible results”

Respect. Sincere, authentic, sporty. Since he arrived in Madrid, Jannik Sinner has shown great attention towards Rafa Jodar, and this afternoon after beating him he approached the camera and wrote ‘What a player!’ on the screen. A great gesture that the Spaniards appreciated a lot. It’s not so normal for the undisputed number 1 to treat a rookie so well. Jannik here went to watch the 19 year old Rafa live against De Minaur, he was late to watch his night match against Fonseca on TV, yesterday beautiful words in the presentation, and today the writing.

quality tennis

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“At the beginning of the season, Rafa had a very, very high number in the ranking. He won in Marrakech, made the semi in Barcelona and now the quarterfinals here, playing great tennis. Quality tennis. He is already a super solid player and that’s why I went to see him. A great generation is emerging, him, Fonseca, even Blockx who is going under the radar a bit here. We will clash several times in the future.”

the bubble

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Enough to think of a Big Four with Sinner, Alcaraz, Fonseca and Jodar? The hungry Spaniards ask him. “Ehhh, I don’t have a crystal ball, I can’t predict the future. What Rafa is doing is incredible, but don’t push him too much. If certain things get into your head then they’re difficult to eliminate. He’s a very good boy, just like his father, he seems like a nice person to me. They’re humble, there’s this little bubble around him that’s important not to break, I’m sure he’ll achieve incredible results.”

tiredness and limitations

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And something about himself: “I’m playing a lot, in the last two months I’ve had very few days of rest and I’m starting to feel tired. But it’s also true that I feel good and that I’m trying to push myself beyond the limits, followed by a great staff who know how to manage and push me. Today was very intense: it’s always a good feeling to find yourself playing in a match of this type. The closed roof created more humidity, the ball was slower, this is a unique tournament, I always say it, and you have to adapt to ever-changing conditions. In the end it was a good match.”

the comparison

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We asked him if he could make a comparison with his 2021, when he appeared at the highest levels of the circuit challenging Djokovic and Nadal for the first time: “I wouldn’t say so, because there is a greater age difference and in fact when I arrived they had already won many Slams, they had done incredible things. I always repeat: I can’t put myself on their level. Ok, I’m not number 20, I’m number 1, but between me and Jodar there’s no difference there was between me and Djokovic and Nadal in 2021.”