Rafael Jodar took the tennis world by storm on Sunday night by earning a huge victory over Joao Fonseca at the Madrid Open.
The 19-year-old Spaniard burst onto the scene at the Barcelona Open earlier this month by reaching the semifinals, and is now continuing to make headway in the capital city.
In a battle of the teenage sensations, Jodar defeated Fonseca in three sets, 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 to advance to the fourth round of the Madrid Open.
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He became just the second wildcard ever younger than 20 to make the round of 16 in Madrid, joining Juan Martin del Potro.
Jodar has also made history in another statistic, in which he leads Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Rafael Jodar’s record on clay courts after 12 matches
Jodar is currently enjoying his first trip around the ATP Tour, and has recorded a win-loss record of 16-4 so far.
On clay, however, Jodar is 12-1, having suffered the sole defeat in the semifinals of the Barcelona Open to an in-form Arthur Fils.
Jodar’s first clay-court campaign was at an ATP 250 event in Marrakech, where he ultimately emerged victorious to claim his first tour-level title.
With five clay wins to his name in Marrakech, Jodar then secured another three in Barcelona, and has now picked up three more in Madrid.
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As per TennisMyLife on X, only Tom Okker has a better record on clay after 12 matches than Jodar, with the Dutch former US Open finalist going 12-0 to start his career on the surface.
Jodar’s tally is better than that of the ‘King of Clay’, Rafael Nadal, who won eight matches and lost four in his first 12 clashes on the dirt.
Djokovic went 5-7, while Federer really struggled on clay to start his career, with the Swiss going 1-11.
The world’s current two-best players, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, both recorded win-loss records of 6-6.
Rafael Jodar’s next opponent at the Madrid Open
Jodar’s next opponent at the 2026 Madrid Open comes in the form of Vit Kopriva, whom he has never faced before on the tour.
Kopriva has recorded a solid Madrid Open campaign so far, having won his first two matches in straight sets, including a victory over ninth seed Andrey Rublev.
The Czech star advanced to the fourth round via a walkover after his third-round opponent, Arthur Rinderknech, retired due to injury during their match.
Jodar is looking to reach the quarterfinals of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time in his career.
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