The rivalry of the future, between Rafa Jódar and Joao Fonsecahad a first stop in the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open. The Madrid native finished off Fonseca and all the poster and fame he has behind him, with a 7-6(4), 4-6 and 6-1. The match started at 10:50 p.m. on Sunday, 10 minutes from the limit established by the ATP to start the official matches.
Elena Rybakina and Qinwen Zheng played the best of three sets and delayed the spectacle that everyone had come to see. While they were playing, the Manolo Santana center was depopulated. The one where Jódar and Fonseca jumped into the arena, was filled in no time.
Rafita once again acted as a prophet in his homeland and is already in the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 at home. There are 29 victories in the course that catapult him to 34th place, ahead of Denis Shapovalov. He is just one position away from being seeded at the next Roland Garros.
With an equal set, and when it seemed that Fonseca was going from less to more, The Brazilian received a correction from a generational rival that he will remember all his life.
He was so upset about losing that he broke his racket into a thousand pieces in the first break of the tiebreaker round. There the train escaped. He avoided, yes, the donut.
Third Spanish by ranking
Jódar, who was 168 on January 1, will leave Madrid as the third Spaniard in the ATP ranking, only behind Carlos Alcaraz and Alejandro Davidovich.
The Czech awaits in the fourth round Vit Kopriva, 66th in the worldand on the horizon an attractive test with Jannik Sinner. The Italian doesn’t trust the Spaniard one bit because he has seen what he is capable of.
By car to Chamartín
Well into the early morning, the new sensation of world tennis He went with his father and coach to the Chamartín neighborhood where his house is and where he spends the night.. He has started a time trial to keep up with Kopriva.
