Spain is at it again.<\/p>\n
A year ago Rafael Jodar, the teenage sensation from Madrid, was ranked around No 700 in the world and completing his freshman year at the University of Virginia. After winning several ATP Challenger titles (the level below regular ATP tournaments) the Spaniard decided to turn pro and forgo his final three years of college eligibility. Jodar won his first main-level ATP match at this year\u2019s Australian Open. And now, stunningly, after a meteoric and nearly unprecedented rise<\/a> up the rankings, the 19-year-old will be among the 32 seeds when the French Open<\/a> commences Sunday.<\/p>\n And, in the process, the \u201cnew Rafa\u201d \u2013 while he has said he was inspired as a child by Nadal, Jodar is named after his father and grandfather \u2013 has managed to steal the mantle of the \u201cnext future champion\u201d hype away from Brazilian Jo\u00e3o Fonseca<\/a>. Ironically Fonseca, also 19, was committed to play college tennis at Virginia with Jodar but instead decided to turn pro, leaving one to wonder if that college team, had it materialized, would have been among the best ever.<\/p>\n To have yet another player thrust into the grand slam-winning-possibility conversation adds to the utter embarrassment of riches Spain has enjoyed for more than three decades. Starting with Sergi Bruguera\u2019s back-to-back French Open titles in 1993 and 1994, the Spanish men have enjoyed a nearly uninterrupted run of dominance with six different players winning grand slams, culminating \u2013 at least, one assumed it was culminating \u2013 with Rafael Nadal\u2019s 22 major titles. Consider: just three months after Nadal\u2019s final grand slam triumph at the 2022 French Open, Carlos Alcaraz won his first major championship at that year\u2019s US Open. (He has since won six more, but will miss this year\u2019s French Open and Wimbledon<\/a> with a wrist injury.)<\/p>\n The only Open-era analog that comes to mind is Sweden\u2019s moment in the sport in the 1970s and 80s. Bj\u00f6rn Borg, the ultimate tennis icon, put Sweden on the map with 11 grand slam titles in an eight-year span, starting in 1974. After he vanished from the sport following his excruciating defeat to John McEnroe at the 1981 US Open, Mats Wilander took up the cause and won the 1982 French Open<\/a>, his first of seven grand slams. Stefan Edberg then grabbed six majors between 1985 and 1992. Sweden\u2019s time in the tennis sun also merged with the sudden cultural influence from the Scandinavian country, from Abba\u2019s music to Saab\u2019s turbo cars.<\/p>\n With his ferocious hitting and aggressive posture constructing points, Jodar continues to put a nail in the coffin of the notion that Spanish players are primarily clay-court specialists. Nadal was unfairly burdened with the \u201che\u2019s great but only on clay\u201d label very early, but his Wimbledon triumph in 2008 proved he could play; Alcaraz burst on to the scene as a fully formed all-court player.<\/p>\n So how did Spain become such a powerhouse in the men\u2019s game? Many trace the origin story back to the early 1970s. The country\u2019s dictator Francisco Franco, inspired by Manolo Santana, the first Spaniard to win a grand slam, ordered the construction of thousands of red clay courts throughout Spain, literally building the infrastructure that laid the groundwork for what was to come.<\/p>\n Though it took a generation, the coaching techniques and training regimens put in place 50 years ago in Spain have now become standard practice for players from around the world.<\/p>\n The two coaches who were the most instrumental in developing the Spanish brand of men\u2019s tennis in the 1980s and early 1990s were Pato Alvarez (now deceased), and Lluis Bruguera (the father of the aforementioned Sergi), who is in his 80s and still coaching.<\/p>\n