{"id":2659,"date":"2026-08-19T13:47:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T13:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=2659"},"modified":"2026-08-19T13:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T13:47:16","slug":"rafael-jodar-gets-blunt-potential-verdict-as-he-is-compared-to-carlos-alcaraz-jannik-sinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=2659","title":{"rendered":"Rafael Jodar gets blunt \u2018potential\u2019 verdict as he is compared to Carlos Alcaraz & Jannik Sinner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former world No 3 Nikolay Davydenko has made a telling statement about Rafael Jodar\u2019s potential as he compared the rising Spanish star with Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> and Jannik Sinner.<\/p>\n

Jodar<\/a>\u2018s ascent in 2026 has been meteoric, with the 19-year-old currently at his career-high ranking of 11th after he started the year as the world No 165.<\/p>\n

Starting with his run to his maiden ATP title in Marrakech, Jodar has won 21 of his last 28 matches during a stellar period since late-March.<\/p>\n

After Marrakech, Jodar reached the Barcelona Open semi-finals before making quarter-finals in Madrid, Rome and at Roland Garros.<\/p>\n

Jodar has amassed a 10-2 record so far during the North American summer hard-court season.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the BB Tennis YouTube channel, Davydenko gave his verdict on Jodar being likened to Alcaraz and Sinner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say Jodar\u2019s tennis potential is that much higher than the others,\u201d said the Russian, who won 21 ATP Tour titles.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t think he can improve like Sinner or Alcaraz, and finish the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, he\u2019s outplaying them through physicality and pressure. But it\u2019s not clear he\u2019s head and shoulders above the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his opening match at the Cincinnati Open, Jodar recovered from 5-1 down in the third set to beat Denis Shapovalov in dramatic fashion.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Tennis Channel, Jodar spoke about the mentality that helped him fight back.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil you lose the last point\u2026 the match is not over. Just try to be there, try to play your game,\u201d said the world No 11.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult because you\u2019re not playing your best tennis and the other player is playing very well, a very high level.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to say, but very difficult to do it. In those moments, it\u2019s just about yourself, you\u2019re just trying to go for it, and just thinking about the next point, and not thinking more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jodar added: \u201cI think I\u2019m playing good tennis right now. I think I\u2019m doing the things right, and I think when you play a lot of matches, you have rhythm of competition, which is very important.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhysically, I think I\u2019m in doing very well. I\u2019m taking advantage of the days off, with light practice. Overall, I think I\u2019m doing a great job outside the court, which is very important when you\u2019re playing a lot of matches.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ NEXT: Carlos Alcaraz could stage a very public US Open fitness test as he is set for final decision<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Rafael Jodar gets blunt \u2018potential\u2019 verdict as he is compared to Carlos Alcaraz & Jannik Sinner<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former world No 3 Nikolay Davydenko has made a telling statement about Rafael Jodar\u2019s potential as he compared the rising Spanish star with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Jodar\u2018s ascent in 2026 has been meteoric, with the 19-year-old currently at his career-high ranking of 11th after he started the year as the world No 165. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2659\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}