London, July 3 (IANS) Rafael Jodar, the NextGenATP star from Spain, came up trumps once again, rallying from a set down, conjuring a piece of Grand Slam magic to win in five sets, which kept his debut campaign at Wimbledon alive on Thursday.
The Spaniard rallied to a 3-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against his countryman Pablo Carreno Busta in a match that was suspended on Wednesday evening due to darkness. The two players returned to No. 2 Court with Carreno Busta leading by two sets to one and Jodar 2-1 ahead on serve in the fourth set. Jodar went on to rally for a three-hour, 43-minute victory.
After levelling the match at two sets all, Jodar immediately carved out three break points at 0/40 in the opening game of the fifth. Carreno Busta fended off those three break points to hold, but Jodar bounced back from that disappointment by reeling off the next four games to set himself on the path to victory.
Jodar’s two-day win at SW19 marks the second consecutive Grand Slam event at which the fast-rising Spaniard has defeated the former World No. 10 Carreno Busta in five sets. At Roland Garros in May, he rallied from two sets down to defeat the 34-year-old Carreno Busta and reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final on just his second appearance at a major.
Jodar’s only previous experience at Wimbledon before this year came in 2024, when he reached the boys’ singles quarter-finals. By winning his first two matches as a professional at The All England Club (also his first tour-level matches on grass), the 19-year-old has become just the third Spanish teenager in the Open Era to reach the Wimbledon men’s singles third round after former champions Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.
“It’s difficult, because you don’t have a lot of time to reset your mind and to this new surface,” Jodar said in his post-match press conference. “It’s true, it’s my first time playing on grass. It wasn’t like that when I started playing on clay this season, because I had already played a lot when I was younger on clay. So I just try to adapt.
“I got a good week of preparation here in Wimbledon, the week before starting the tournament, so I’m confident with that. I try to give my best.”
Jodar has enjoyed a stunning rise up the PIF ATP Rankings in the past 12 months. A year ago, he was the World No. 554, but he is currently the No. 25 player in the PIF ATP Live Rankings after earning his 26th tour-level match win of 2026. He will take on Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki next in London, where the winner will advance to a fourth-round showdown with defending champion Jannik Sinner or Jenson Brooksby.
–IANS
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