Jódar, seeking revenge for Godó in Washington with a significant record
Three weeks after his last match, the defeat against the Japanese Shintaro Mochizuki in the third round of Wimbledon, Rafa Jódar returns to the slopes with an eye on the last Grand Slam of the season: the US Open.
The American tour begins this week in the Washington tournamentATP 500 tournament where He will make his debut on Tuesday against the Frenchman Arthur Filseighth seed and executioner of the Madrid tennis player in the semifinals of the last Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell-Trofeo Conde de Godó.
It will, without a doubt, be a high-voltage duel between two of the most solid players of this start of the season and a new opportunity for Jódar to continue increasing his streak of victories against players with a higher ranking than him, a statistic in which he is the leader in the top 50 with eleven wins, two more than Matteo Berrettini and Alexander Blockx.
The player from Madrid is looking for the necessary boost in American lands to continue his climb in the world ranking, where he now occupies 24th place. with the aim of getting closer to the top 10 at the end of the season.
To achieve this, they must have a good performance in Washington, where the draw meant that, if they beat Fils, their rival in the second round would be the winner of the match against the Japanese Kei Nishikoriinvited by the organization on his farewell tennis tour, and the Chinese Juncheng Shang.
The star match of the first round will be the one that faces, also this Tuesday, the first seed and current champion, the Australian Alex de Minaur, with the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipaswho is trying to get back on his feet after a few months with many physical and tennis problems.
Another of the attractions of the tournament is the presence of Cruz Hewitt. The son of former world number 1 Lleyton Hewitt is, at 17 years old, one of the great promises of current tennis and he gave a good example of it this past weekend by winning both matches in the qualifying phase.
Now He will seek his first professional victory in a final draw against the American Marcos Gironwith De Minaur or Tsitsipas waiting in the second round.
Jódar is the only Spanish representative in the Washington tournament, although Martín Landaluce will also take to the court at the ATP 250 tournament in Los Cabos.
The tennis player from Madrid, number 63 in the world and seventh seed, will debut on Mexican soil against the American Michael Zheng, number 118 in the world, with Soonwoo Kwon or Arthur Gea as a rival in the second round and Francisco Cerúndolo in the spotlight in a hypothetical quarterfinal.
