Rafa Jódar reaches the final in Washington with a new comeback, where Taylor Fritz awaits him

Spanish player Rafael Jódar has reached the final of the Washington Open after coming back this Saturday (early Sunday morning in Spain) from a set down against Chilean Alejandro Tabilo and will seek his second professional title today, the first of the 500 category, against American Taylor Fritz. Jódar defeated Tabilo 6(6)-7, 6-4, and 6-4 in 2 hours and 24 minutes of play, in another comeback, already a trademark, like the one he made in the quarterfinals against Italian Lorenzo Musetti. The Washington tournament opens the North American hard court swing, which will culminate with the US Open after stops at the 1,000 category tournaments in Canada and Cincinnati.

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No matter what happens this Sunday, Jódar is guaranteed to leave Washington as the new world number 15. The Washington tournament, which opens the North American hard court swing, will be the second final of the Madrid native in his debut year, after having won Marrakech (a 250) against Argentine Marco Trungelliti. For Fritz, it will be the fourth final of the year. The Californian has lost the previous three in Dallas, Stuttgart, and Halle. The match between the two has only one precedent. It was in the second round of the 250 in Delray Beach, one of Jódar’s first tournaments as a professional. Then, Fritz defeated the Spaniard 7-6(4) and 6-4.

The opponent Tabilo faced in Washington was very different from the one he faced five months earlier in Indian Wells. Then, Jódar had just debuted on the circuit and was ranked 114th in the world. The Chilean crushed him 6-1 and 6-2 in less than an hour. This Saturday, Jódar debuted his brand-new Top 20 status. In fact, the Madrid native played the match as the virtual number 19 in the world, precisely the best ranking Tabilo has reached in his career. Both showed a strong defense of their serve. Until 5-5, neither had to defend a break point. Jódar then saved, at a very delicate moment, the only one in the set, which inevitably went to a tiebreak. In the tie break, he was trailing from the moment he lost the first point on serve, a forehand that went long after a long rally. The Spaniard recovered that and another disadvantage when a volley fell short on a net approach. But at 6-6, Tabilo secured his third mini break of the tiebreak and closed the set on serve.

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Jódar went on the offensive in the second set. He forced break points one after another until the fourth, at 3-3 on the scoreboard, when he broke the Chilean for the first time, the first service break of the night in Washington. The Spaniard consolidated the advantage and only had to hold serve to take the match to the decisive third set. Jódar opened it with another break after going up 0-40 and grew in stature. His rival could not threaten Jódar’s serve, who rode the entire set to the final.

“I didn’t get discouraged in the first set”

After the victory, Jódar appeared confident and interpreted the recently won semifinal as follows: “I know that if you lose the first set there are still opportunities if you win the next two, and that’s how I’m going to approach all matches. Knowing that matches are very long, that there are many ups and downs and that they can change at any moment. You have to face matches like that,” he added.

Jódar acknowledged that Tabilo played better in the tie-break after a “very close” first set in which there was no break. “Even so, I didn’t get discouraged, I kept playing as I was in the first set, I took advantage of the opportunities I had to break, and that allowed me to be a little calmer, serve better, and with more rhythm,” he explained. For the final, he said, only one recipe: “Try to play my game, have fun, and enjoy myself on the court.”

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