Rafael Jodar continues brilliant breakout season with Madrid Open win over Alex De MinaurRafael Jodar produced a stunning upset in front of his home crowd to knock out seventh seed Alex de Minaur at the Madrid Open.
The 19-year-old Spaniard, who is quickly emerging as one of the sport’s rising stars, swept aside De Minaur 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the third round.
It was Jodar’s first career victory over a top-ten player and continued a difficult stretch for De Minaur, who has struggled to find form recently.
Ranked 42nd in the world, Jodar is becoming a familiar name after his impressive run to the semifinals in Barcelona. His progress hasn’t gone unnoticed, and this win will only add to his growing reputation.
After sealing the biggest win of his young career so far, Jodar admitted he hadn’t expected things to come together this quickly on tour.
Speaking after the match, Jodar reflected on his rise: “Everything is happening very fast, I’m playing lots of tournaments and matches.
“That is allowing me to compete against many high-level players and improve my tennis. When you face these opponents, who are the best on Tour, that’s when you really raise your level.
“Today, my aim was to enjoy myself because you don’t play against an opponent like Alex every day. In front of all the people who came to support me, I tried to savour the moment.
“I knew I had to enjoy myself, if I had a shot, I had to go for it. I knew things would get tough, because the score doesn’t reflect how hard the match was.
“In the second set, he clawed his way back, but there were key points that I managed to swing my way. That’s what decided the match.
“The first match helped me a lot to adapt to the conditions in Madrid. I came from something very different in Barcelona. It did me good to get used to the Manolo Santana court.
The win followed another strong performance earlier in Madrid as Jodar beat Benjamin Bonzi 7-5 6-3 in round one.
“That doesn’t mean the next one will be any less tough; it’ll be very challenging,” continued Jodar, who faces Joao Fonseca in the third round of the Madrid Open.
The pair have never faced each other at tour level, making this their first head-to-head with a spot in the fourth round of an ATP Masters 1000 event on the line.
Looking ahead to the match, Jodar added: “Tomorrow I’ll try to have a good practice day and approach Sunday’s match with the same mindset.
“Joao is a tough opponent, and I have to prepare well for this match. I have to play my own game and be ready in case things don’t go as well as today. I have to try to stay strong in those moments. We’ll see how it goes.”
Fonseca, seeded 27th at the Madrid Open, advanced via a walkover in his opening round, with his opponent, Marin Cilic, withdrawing.
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