Daily Fuzz
Rafael Jodar, who managed just 4 games crashing out of the US Open, on what went wrong.6
Richard PagliaroSeptember 2, 20262 minute read
By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Photo credit: National Bank Open
Rafael Jodar was a punishing presence throughout the North American summer hard court season.
Today, Jodar felt the big hurt managing just four games in crashing out of the US Open.
Lucky loser Yunchaokete Bu crushed Jodar 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 on Court 17 to roll into the US Open second round.
Afterward, the 12th-seeded Spaniard, who reached the Washington, DC final and Montreal semifinals last month, made no excuses for his lopsided loss in his last Grand Slam event as a teenager.
“He played better than me, and that’s the reason why he won today,” said the 19-year-old Jodar, who celebrates his 20th birthday on September 17th. “[I am] physically good. Yeah, that’s it. That’s
how the match went. He played better than me, so he deserved to win today.”
It was just the fourth Grand Slam main draw event for the Roland Garros quarterfinalist, who won the 2024 US Open boys’ championship. Jodar posted a 10-3 record during the North American summer hard-court season but struggled to summon the energy and intensity today.
Jodar said he views this defeat as a lesson learned.
“Well, match has just finished, so I don’t really know, yeah, what can improve and what I should do for the next time,” Jodar said. “I mean, I’m new on the tour. It’s going to be — there are going to be things like this because I’m new.
“Just try to learn from it so it doesn’t happen again. First time can happen to anyone. We are human. Second time, it could be bad if I haven’t learned from this one.”
Jodar’s loss could prove to be a gain for an American wild card.
New Jersey native Michael Zheng, the NCAA champion from Columbia, scored his first US Open main-draw victory tonight. Zheng, who had qualified for the first three majors this season, swept Fabian Marozan, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Zheng will face Bu on Court 12 tomorrow afternoon for a trip to his second straight Grand Slam third round.
World No. 105 Zheng played through qualifying at Wimbledon and toppled Briton Cameron Norrie in round one before bowing to Felix Auger-Aliassime in a third-round clash staged on Centre Court at SW19.