This year has seen Rafael Jodar burst onto the main stage of tennis, but at the US Open he suffered one of the most one-sided losses of his career to a lucky loser.
Jodar has enjoyed a meteoric rise since January, going from outside the world’s top 150 to 13th in the world. He has been as high as 11th in the standings. During this period, he has won his first ATP title in Morocco, reached the quarter-finals or better at three consecutive Masters 1000 events and reached the last eight of the French Open.
Taking to the court in New York on Tuesday to play his first round match, which had been delayed due to poor weather, Jodar was thrashed 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 by China’s Yunchaokete Bu. A player who only gained entry into the main draw as a lucky loser and had never won a main draw Grand Slam match in his career. The Spaniard produced 37 unforced errors against 15 winners and won less than a third of his second service points.
“He played better than me, and that’s the reason why he won,” Jodar said afterwards.
“I tried to give my best. It wasn’t meant to be.
“I have had a good season overall. It’s going to be some time to recover and to think about this tournament and what I could learn from this.”
The 19-year-old shut down the idea that his performance was fitness-related, describing himself as ‘physically good’ before later adding that he wasn’t tired from playing on the Tour. For this reason, the loss seems more puzzling. However, credit should also be given to Bu’s performance.
“There are going to be things like this because I’m new. Just try to learn from it so it doesn’t happen again,” Jodar explains.
“First time can happen to anyone. We are human. Second time, it could be bad if I haven’t learned from this one.”
Coming into the US Open, Jodar had won his opening match at 10 consecutive ATP events.
