Appears Rafa Jodarat 17 years old, 1.90 metres tall, and with his direct game, there is only one certainty: Spanish tennis has a future. In recent times he has not celebrated many successes other than Carlos Alcarazbut the quarry continues to overflow with talent. At the US Open junior, for example, in the last four editions there have been three Spanish champions: Dani Rincón in 2021, Martín Landaluce in 2022 and Jódar this 2024, a streak that no country had chained. In the final of the American Grand Slam this Saturday, on the immensity of the Arthur Ashe court, Jódar to the Norwegian Nicolai Budkov Dearthe winner of the last junior Wimbledon, the world number one in the under 18s, by 2-6, 6-2 and 7-6(1).
“I’m living a dream right now. It was a wonderful battle and I would like to congratulate Nicolai on the match. It was a pleasure to play against him,” said Jódar in the press room with exquisite politeness.
From Leganés, trained by his father and the coaches at the Chamartín Tennis Club, Jódar began playing tennis in his garage, then practised on some paddle tennis courts near his home and discovered competition at the age of seven. Last year he made a splash by winning the Spanish Junior Championship by surprise at just 16 years old and since then he has combined sessions at his club with ‘stages’ at the BTT academy in Sant Cugat, where he learns from Francis Roigformer coach of Rafa NadalNadal was his childhood idol – the first match he saw on television was the 2012 Australian Open final lost to Novak Djokovic– and a mirror in which to look at himself, a Real Madrid fan like him, although their styles are very different.
With his physique, Jódar is closer to tennis Jannik Sinnerthe current world number one, despite still having a lot of training left. Before the US Open juniors, the Spaniard had committed to the University of Virginia to play there from January, although now he could try to make an early jump to the ATP circuit. “I can’t say what I’m going to do. To be honest, I haven’t decided yet,” he said after lifting the most important title of his short career.