{"id":636987,"date":"2026-04-28T21:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T21:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/636987\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T21:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T21:08:10","slug":"rafael-jodar-reveals-keys-to-challenging-jannik-sinner-in-madrid-atp-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/636987\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafael Jodar reveals keys to challenging Jannik Sinner in Madrid | ATP Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rafael Jodar
\n Jodar reveals keys to challenging Sinner in Madrid<\/p>\n

Spaniard faces World No. 1 in QF<\/p>\n

April 28, 2026<\/p>\n

\"Jannik<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

Jannik Sinner and Rafael Jodar will meet for the first time on Wednesday in Madrid.
\n By ATPTour.com\/es Staff<\/p>\n

Rafael Jodar<\/a> will play one of those matches every player dreams of being a part of when he steps onto court on Wedesday. The Spanish #NextGenATP star will take on World No. 1 Jannik Sinner<\/a> for the first time at the Mutua Madrid Open<\/a>. With the support of his home crowd and the attention of the entire circuit, one of the ATP Tour\u2019s brightest emerging talents is about to take on his biggest challenge yet.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s going to be very exciting to play Jannik for the first time, and to do so in my own city”, Jodar admitted, thrilled at his incredible opportunity in the Manolo Santana Stadium. “I have to take it point by point”.<\/p>\n

That consistency has been key for Jodar this week at the Caja Magica, where he has managed to stare down increasingly significant opponents. The Madrid native claimed his first Top 10 win against Alex de Minaur<\/a>, defeated Brazilian 19-year-old Joao Fonseca<\/a> in a huge generational clash, and earned his place in his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final by beat Vit Kopriva<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s a long way to go before we think about beating a World No. 1. But if I do things right and keep a good mindset, those chances might come,\u201d Jodar said. \u201cI could be in with a chance to win the match. I need to do everything very well and focus on what has worked for me so far. All the opponents play at a high level, so you have to concentrate on what you do best”.<\/p>\n

You May Also Like: Jodar sets Sinner Madrid blockbuster, reaches first Masters 1000 QF<\/a><\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s experience will hold no surprises for Jodar, who will stand across the net from a four-time major champion. For the Madrid player, it will be a battle, but also a chance to measure the gap that still separates him from the elite level on Tour.<\/p>\n

“Jannik is a great player, you can see that in any of his matches,\u201d Jodar said. \u201cHe\u2019s very focused and has an enormous mentality. That helps him a lot. He\u2019s got fantastic shots. If I want to do well tomorrow, I\u2019ll have to play my very best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jodar has enjoyed an impressive start to the season, climbing to No. 34 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings thanks to some performances on court. In the opening months of 2026, the Spaniard has broken new ground in his career, including his first match win at a major and his first ATP Tour trophy. Now in Madrid comes the challenge of making things difficult for the best player in the world.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m expecting nothing less than a very tough match. I\u2019ll try to give my best and learn a lot from this experience,\u201d Jodar said. \u201cI want to go out there with the same mentality as in all my previous matches, with the confidence that I\u2019ll have my chances if I do things right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u201cATP\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rafael Jodar Jodar reveals keys to challenging Sinner in Madrid Spaniard faces World No. 1 in QF April…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-636987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}