Rafa Jodarin his first participation at Roland Garros, This Sunday he advanced to the quarterfinals after winning the fratricidal duel against Pablo Carreño, 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 and 6-2, in three hours and 41 minutes. The parallels with the figure of another Rafa, surnamed Nadal, are beginning to be many. And the Balearic He also made it into the top eight the first time he set foot on the Bois de Boulogne slopes..
Next to Albert Costa and Juan Carlos Ferrero are the four members of the ‘Armada’ that were planted so far away before turning twenty within the Open Era.
The most difficult thing in tennis is to close the matches and it was evident once again. Rafa wasted the first four winning balls, the first three at 40-0 and service. He took advantage of the fifth, with a right hand from his opponent that died in the net.
His 19 matches won on clay this year leave him ahead in that Jannik Sinner statistic. For the first time in his career, the winner was able to come back from two sets down. It burns through stages at breakneck speed.
It was Jódar’s third professional match with a compatriot and everyone fell on his side. He had won the previous two, against Martín Landaluce, in the Next Gen Finals in Jeddah and the first round of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.
Carreño enjoyed a break ball in the opening game. His opponent solved it with a serve at 210 kilometers per hour. In a flash, Rafa was 3-0 in his favor.
Pablo, 15 years older and hardened in a thousand battles, didn’t even flinch. I knew there was a lot left. He had three other break options for 3-2. The one from Leganés saved her as if he played Grand Slam round of 16 every day.
Carreño laments.
Serve and forehand is the formula for success for Jódar. And he worked at it, again and again. Rafa is capable of playing all points equally. That’s why he neutralized the fifth and sixth break balls in the seventh game..
The seventh time was the charm for the Asturian, who did not let go at any time. He was facing what could be his last train in Paris. From 4-1 to 4-6. Five games in a row for the one from Gijón. Jódar suffered and suffered in each shift of duty.
Nine games in a row
The recital of the veteran member of the ‘Armada’ had no end. With leg mobility acquired through working alongside Vicente Calvoand a devastating right hand, Carreño chained nine games.
Rafa suffered one setback after another. When he stopped the bleeding it was already too late because he was 4-0 down in the second set. He started the game with a cap and finished without it.
The one from Leganés encouraged the public by closing the gap to 4-2. With two sets to zero against, he went to the locker room. I needed a clean slate. He did it and signed a comeback at the height of Rafa, which has a statue at the entrance to the tennis venue located in the Bois de Boulogne.
Carreño, at the time of being treated for the shoulder.
Carreño, after almost three hours, he suffered from the right shoulder that had forced him to leave on May 15 before the quarterfinals of the Faulconbridge Cup in Valencia. He had to request the presence of the physiotherapist.
Drops were falling in the sky of Paris and Rafa did not want to see his moment interrupted. His will was to continue as it was and without having to stop to close the retractable roof.
The game was stopped for six minutes and in all of them Jódar remained in the middle of the court wanting to resume. Openly dialogued with the tournament supervisor.
Behind Davidovich
Rafa continues to climb positions in the ranking. The French Open began in twenty-ninth place and is now virtually twenty-second, immediately behind his compatriot Alexander Davidovich.