Spain just cannot stop producing tennis stars. Before Rafael Nadal had even retired, Carlos Alcaraz broke through with a meteoric rise to greatness. Now, as Carlitos begins to build his own legend at just 22 years old, Rafael J\u00f3dar has turned up on the scene with his supersonic tennis, filling fans with hope and excitement for a bright future.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s difficult to find a reason for the virtuous cycle that Spanish tennis has enjoyed for decades. Let\u2019s not forget Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moy\u00e0, David Ferrer, Alex Corretja, Roberto Bautista, Fernando Verdasco, Albert Costa, Tommy Robredo, Nicol\u00e1s Almagro, and many more. How is it possible that another tennis player is now on his way to joining that list? And what are the chances he\u2019s also named Rafa? Spanish fans will have to dust off the \u201cVamos, Rafa!\u201d chant that once filled stadiums around the world.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s still early days to be talking about Rafa J\u00f3dar in the same terms as those mentioned above. However, there\u2019s no doubt that the kid from Leganes, born in 2006 \u2013 now 19 years old \u2013 has what it takes to dream big. He\u2019s tall, possesses a powerful and accurate game, has an exceptional head on his shoulders, and promises to keep his feet firmly on the ground, no matter how much success comes his way.<\/p>\n
This Wednesday in Madrid, he\u2019ll play one of those matches that will be remembered for years to come. After seeing off Jesper de Jong, \u00c1lex de Minaur, Joao Fonseca and Vit Kopriva to reach the quarter-finals of the Mutua Madrid Open, the Spaniard will now face Italy\u2019s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner. The prize is a ticket to the tournament\u2019s semi-finals. It\u2019s a mountainous challenge for J\u00f3dar, but if there\u2019s one thing he\u2019s shown in the last few weeks on the ATP circuit, it\u2019s that he\u2019s unfazed by anyone. Whomever he faces, J\u00f3dar sticks to his guns, and just keeps thumping the ball at the lines.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an incredibly talented player\u201d, said Sinner of the circuit\u2019s latest sensation. \u201cHe hits the ball so cleanly, with a very natural power. You can hear it when he strikes the ball; the racket makes a great sound\u201d, adds the Italian, who has been keeping a close eye on J\u00f3dar this fortnight. He\u2019s watched him in practice and has even been seen in the stands watching the Spaniard live in the Manolo Santana Stadium.<\/p>\n
Just a few months ago, his name was barely being mentioned in tennis circles; now, Rafa J\u00f3dar is headline news and a front-page star. He has aura, as people say these days. He also has quite a game. \u201cI have a feeling this won\u2019t be the only time we face each other. It\u2019s good we\u2019re playing before the big tournaments\u201d, says Sinner.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be very exciting to play Jannik for the first time, and to do it in my city\u201d, said J\u00f3dar. \u201cWe\u2019re still a long way from being able to talk about beating a world No. 1. But if I do things right and keep a good mindset, those chances might come. I could win the match. I need to do things well and focus on what\u2019s worked for me. All opponents play at a high level, so you have to focus on what you do best\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be a very tough match. I\u2019ll try to give my best and learn a lot from this match. I\u2019m going in with the same approach I\u2019ve had in my other matches, confident that I\u2019ll get my chances if I do things right\u201d.<\/p>\n
Champion of the ATP 250 in Marrakech early in April and semi-finalist this month at the ATP 500 in Barcelona, J\u00f3dar is exploding onto the scene before our very eyes. The statistics of his arrival in the elite defy all logic. This Wednesday in Madrid, he could make a statement. A statement that will be remembered forever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Spain just cannot stop producing tennis stars. Before Rafael Nadal had even retired, Carlos Alcaraz broke through with a meteoric rise to greatness. Now, as Carlitos begins to build his own legend at just 22 years old, Rafael J\u00f3dar has turned up on the scene with his supersonic tennis, filling fans with hope and excitement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":108591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[837,838],"tags":[1067,1164,1158],"class_list":["post-108595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-noticias-tenis-en","category-noticias-tenis-masculino-en","tag-jannik-sinner-en-2","tag-rafa-jodar","tag-rafael-jodar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108595"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108596,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108595\/revisions\/108596"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}