Rafael Jodar extends debut Roland-Garros run to quarter-finals
The legendary Rafael Nadal won the first of his record 14 Roland-Garros titles in his first attempt on clay courts as a teenager in 2005. History may be repeating itself in 21 years.
Nadal’s 19-year-old compatriot and namesake Rafael Jodar became the fifth man this century to reach the quarter-finals in Paris in the first main draw on Sunday (Paris time), joining Nadal, Juan Carlos Ferrero (2000), Martin Verkerk (2003), Jannik Sinner (2020) and Holger Rune (2022).
Jodar, who was ranked 707th at this time last year, did so by winning the five-setter for the second year in a row, edging out fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in three hours and 41 minutes.
A shoulder problem troubled former world No.10 Carreno Busta in the final sets, but it should not overshadow Jodar’s success, which he celebrated passionately after embracing his experienced compatriot at the net.
“I’m very happy with the win,” Jodar said.
“This is different [playing in major tournaments, in front of big crowds]But I’m the same person. “I will always be the same person, I will always be very, very humble, but I am grateful to everyone who came to support me today.”
This victory came after the excitement of the youngster, who fell from two sets to one against American Alex Michelsen a round ago.
Jodar initially got into his first trouble off the field based on a misleading viral clip that appeared to show Michelsen pushing a young baseball girl during a game before an alternate camera angle emerged.
Nadal was also 19 in 2005 when he defeated Roger Federer in the semifinals and defeated Argentinian Mariano Puerta in four sets.
This year’s Roland-Garros championships will crown a first-ever grand slam champion after a series of upsets and extraordinary drama in the opening week, including the elimination of both world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic.
The last champion of the tournament, Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, could not even start the tournament due to a serious wrist injury.
Jodar began this clay-court push by winning a Challenger event in Morocco in late March, then reached the Barcelona semi-finals, the Madrid quarter-finals (where he advanced to Sinner) and the same stage in Rome.
He has won more matches on red clay this year than any other player, compiling a 19-3 win-loss record and temporarily moving up to 22nd in the live ATP rankings.
Jodar’s biggest challenge this fortnight is to face third-seeded German Alexander Zverev, a three-time grand finalist who is the tournament’s new favorite after the chaos that befell Roland-Garros. He came second in Paris two years ago.
Zverev’s path to the last eight has been much smoother, losing just one set so far and eventually ending lucky loser Jesper De Jong’s improbable streak with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 6-1 success in the fourth round.
He later learned in an on-field interview with retired French star Caroline Garcia that his next opponent was Jodar.
“He is a very young player, incredibly talented,” Zverev said.
“This clay court season he came on the scene from outside the top 100 and within two months he’s almost broken into the top 20, so he’s playing incredible tennis. It’s going to be a very tough challenge but I need to have confidence and I’ll be ready for it.”
The rest of the quarter-final field is still being determined, from Jodar’s fellow rising stars Joao Fonseca and Jakub Mensik to Sinner’s unlikely winner Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who backed up his massive upset of the ailing Italian with an epic nearly six-hour win.
However, to reach the last eight, Cerundolo must beat another Italian, Matteo Berretini, who has struggled with injuries in recent years, tomorrow.
Fonseca faces a trio of major finalists in Casper Ruud, who has made it to back-to-back Roland-Garros finals in 2022-23, while Canada’s Felix Auger Aliassime, Flavio Cobolli, Andrey Rublev and Frances Tiafoe join Zverev in the remaining top spots.
No one other than Sinner, Alcaraz or Djokovic has won a men’s grand slam singles title since Daniil Medvedev defeated the latter in the 2021 US Open final.
The women’s tournament became almost as interesting when Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk defeated four-time champion Iga Swiatek in a stunning show of strength, 7-5, 6-1.
Kostyuk, the 15th seed, needed nerves of steel after taking two breaks late in the first set and then dropping serve to start the second set, but he cruised to the finish line after hanging on hard through the tough period.
It’s been a headline-grabbing event for Ukrainian women, from Kostyuk to quarter-finalist Elina Svitolina and Oleksandra Oliynykova, who lost in the third round but continues her one-man campaign against the ongoing war in her home country.
A tearful Oliynykova called for sanctions against Russian Diana Schnaider, who defeated her in straight sets, for playing in an exhibition event last year funded by Russian state oil company Gazprom.
Kostyuk and Svitolina will face each other in the semifinals.
“We have a really good relationship,” Kostyuk said about Svitolina.
“A legend of Ukrainian tennis and [it will be] It was such an honor to share the court with him on Tuesday. She has paved the way for many Ukrainian girls and boys and is doing great especially this year; “He gives an incredible performance.”
In the women’s quarter-finals, 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva locked herself in the hole against Romanian Sorana Cirstea, a candidate for retirement, who continued her incredible form by defeating Chinese Wang Xiyu 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
Andreeva lost only five matches, besting her Swiss rival Jil Teichmann.
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