Rafael Jódar - People also ask
Rafael Jódar (born September 17, 2006, Madrid) is a Spanish tennis player and one of the fastest risers of the 2026 ATP season: US Open boys' champion in 2024, first ATP title in Marrakech in April 2026, Roland-Garros quarterfinalist and now ranked No. 24 in the world at 19.
Rafael Jódar is the name Spanish tennis has been waiting to see next to Carlos Alcaraz’s, and in 2026 it arrived faster than almost anyone predicted. Born in Madrid on September 17, 2006, Jódar started the season outside the world’s top 100 and is No. 24 by late July, with a first ATP title from the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech and a Roland-Garros quarterfinal already banked at 19.
His route makes the rise more interesting. Jódar won the US Open boys’ title in 2024, then did something few elite Spanish prospects do: he went to college in the United States, playing for the University of Virginia before turning professional in 2025. He still trains with his father Rafael and UVA assistant coach Brian Rasmussen, a hybrid setup that bridges both worlds. At 1.91 m with a right-handed game built around a big serve and a two-handed backhand, he fits the modern power template more than the old Spanish clay-grinder mold.
The Roland-Garros 2026 quarterfinal was the breakout: seeded 27th, he came back from two sets down against Pablo Carreño Busta before falling to Alexander Zverev. Now he is on the North American hard-court swing, where he opened his Washington campaign in late July by beating Arthur Fils with a 7-6(5) first-set tiebreak, his first match since Wimbledon. The US Open, where his junior breakthrough came two years ago, is the obvious next chapter, and this time he arrives as a seeded threat rather than a curiosity.
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