Rafael Jodar has continued his breakout run at the Madrid Open to set up a first-time meeting against Jannik Sinner.
Jodar has already been compared to Carlos Alcaraz, who has been ruled out of the rest of the clay court season due to a wrist injury.
Although Sinner does not have his biggest rival to compete against in Madrid, he will play Jodar for the first time after the 19-year-old beat Vit Kopriva to set up a quarterfinal meeting against him.
Jodar was ranked outside the top 500 when Sinner won Wimbledon last year, and he has now revealed what he likes the most about the world number one’s tennis.
Rafael Jodar ‘looking forward’ to playing Jannik Sinner for the first time
Jodar beat Kopriva 7-5, 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals of his home Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid on his debut.
After the match there was unsurprisingly a lot of hype surrounding the match between Jodar and Sinner, and the Spanish teenager was asked about his upcoming opponent in his post-match press conference.
“Well, Jannik is a great player,” Jodar said about Sinner. “It will be a really good match tomorrow, and I’m really excited. I’m looking forward to playing Jannik for the first time tomorrow here in Madrid. But, yeah, I mean, it’s, yeah, very exciting to play against him for the first time here in my hometown.”
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Jodar was then asked a follow-up question about what he likes the most about Sinner.
The world number 42 could not pinpoint one thing of Sinner’s, with Jodar instead highlighting his mentality, forehand and backhand.
“Well, Jannik I think is a great player overall,” answered Jodar. “Yeah, you can see that in every match he plays he’s always very focused with the mentality, and with a great mentality I think that helps him a lot during the matches.
“Obviously he’s got a great forehand, backhand. Overall I think he’s a great player, so if I want to do well tomorrow I’ll have to give my best.”
Rafael Jodar explains how he is dealing with the pressure in Madrid
With Alcaraz out of the rest of the clay court season due to his wrist injury, there has been a lot of attention directed Jodar’s way as the only Spanish player remaining in either Madrid Open singles draw.
Jodar is also from Madrid and he was asked about how he has been able to handle the pressure of being the home favorite.
“Yeah, I think just going step by step, match by match, I think that’s the most important thing, you know,” said Jodar. “When you are not thinking like in the future, you know, you are living in the present, and trying to give your best in the match you’re playing, I think that’s one of the keys to do well, you know.
“There are obviously some times where you’re not going to play that well, but in those, in those times I think it’s very important to have the same mentality as you had in other matches where you’ve played better. Yeah, I think that’s one thing that I think I do pretty well.”
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Jodar is also closing in on being seeded for the French Open this year, and will improve his chances if he beats Sinner.
Sinner is also hoping to achieve something for the first time in his career, as he has never been past the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open before.
Jodar and Sinner will play each other for the first time on Wednesday, April 29.
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