Rafa Jódar is still on a roll and is already in the quarterfinals of the Conde de Godó

“But have you seen the bombs he hits?”.

As happened on Monday, Rafael Jódar’s shots —indeed, shots— on the central court of the Godó once again leave everyone present speechless, who get a big cold shower when the sudden withdrawal of Carlos Alcaraz —out of action due to a “right wrist injury”— becomes known and they regret the departure of the Murcian. The general atmosphere, in any case, holds the consolation of the effervescence of the Madrid player, a tennis player who wins, convinces and, above all, impresses. His progression was known, but most of those present had not seen him live. Camilo Ugo Carabelli’s initial break is a mirage: double 6-3, in 1h 29m.

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With the withdrawal of the Murcian, Jódar has become the main local hope to compete for the title at the ATP 500 in Barcelona, where he will play for a place in the semifinals against the winner of the match between the Brit Cameron Norrie, seventh seed of the tournament, and the American Ethan Quinn, 50th in the world ranking.

Winner of his first ATP title just 10 days ago at the 250 in Marrakech, Jódar, trained tennis-wise at the Madrid Club de Tenis Chamartín, gave no chance this Wednesday to Carabelli, seven years older and number 64 in the ATP ranking.

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This is the 25th win of the season for the Spaniard, more than any other tennis player, including Jannik Sinner, ranking leader and holder of 24 wins so far this year. Wednesday’s win is also the seventh in a row for Jódar, who had already defeated Carabelli recently in Marrakech. Does he now see himself as one of the favorites? “No, not at all,” said the Leganés native.

“The truth is that we have a very good relationship and I really appreciate his [praise] words. And nothing, regarding his injury, I hope it’s nothing and that he recovers as soon as possible,” he referred to Alcaraz’s injury.

On the other hand, Wednesday’s session also saw the elimination of Alex de Miñaur, at the hands of Hamad Medjedovic (6-3 and 6-4).

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