Rafael Jodar earned a stunning upset victory over Alex de Minaur to advance to the third round of the Madrid Open.
The Spanish teenager, who announced himself to the tennis world by making the semifinals of the Barcelona Open, beat De Minaur comfortably in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.
Jodar’s triumph was his first against a top ten player and marked another chapter in a poor run of form for the Australian.
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Aged 19, the home hope in Madrid is quickly establishing himself as one of the best young players in the world, and is currently ranked 42nd in the world.
Following his win, Jodar was overwhelmed at how much progress he is already making on the ATP Tour.
Rafael Jodar reacts to beating Alex de Minaur in Madrid
In his post-match interview, Jodar said: “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.
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“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.
Rafael Jodar looks ahead to first clash with Joao Fonseca
“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 two young stars have never met at a tour-level event before, and will do battle for the first time with a place in the fourth round of an ATP Masters 1000 tournament up for grabs.
Jodar said: “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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