A few hours before Rafael Jódar and Joao Fonseca took to the clay of the Manolo Santana Stadium, Jannik Sinner was full of praise for the biggest names in the new generation of players. “Those born in 2006… They’re all very, very good players. It’s such a strong generation”, gushed the world number one. Jódar and Fonseca have just proved him right.
The Caja Magica’s centre court was packed to the rafters for the biggest match of the day. The spectators waited with bated breath for the first Jódar-Fonseca; from the early hours of the afternoon the Mutua Madrid Open’s venue had been teeming with fans, many of them Brazilian, and they now provided a splash of colour across the stands and ignited an atmosphere worthy of what they were about to witness. Jódar and Fonseca responded to the hype surrounding their ‘clash of the future’ with a match that will not be forgotten any time soon.
A forehand winner at 00:58 in the morning took Jódar over the finishing line, crowning a 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-1 victory after two hours and ten minutes of tennis. It was Jódar’s eleventh win on this clay swing after a title in Marrakech, semifinals in Barcelona, and now a dream run in Madrid. A dream because the Spaniard is now through to the last sixteen, where on Tuesday he will meet the Czech world No. 66 Vit Kopriva, who reached the round thanks to the withdrawal of Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech when their match was tied at 6-4, 3-6.
Last night’s made it three wins out of three for Jódar in the Manolo Santana Stadium. The 19-year-old is playing with a maturity way beyond his years. The pressure on his young shoulders on Sunday was immense; having defeated Alex de Minaur in the second round, he was now charged with proving it was no fluke. Moreover, the man on the other side of the net was a Joao Fonseca who always brings with him hoards of Brazilian fans. But apparently Jódar does not know the meaning of the word nerves. All he knows is how to unleash supersonic, line-hugging forehands and backhands from all over the court. The kid from Leganés does not do things by half.
“In the end I knew I had to play my own game in the third set. Everything went well and I’m very happy with my level in set three. I knew Joao was an incredibly tough opponent and I knew I had to play well to get the win”, said Jódar immediately after the conclusion of the match. “Only time will tell if we’ll cross paths again frequently. Today we both played really well and I wish him the best for the rest of his career”.
This is the first time in his short career that Jódar has reached the last sixteen of an ATP Masters 1000 event. And he has done it in Madrid, his home, his territory. The dream is not over. The dream has only just begun.