First-time Grand Slam participant Rafael Jodar and new favorite Alexander Zverev advanced to the French Open quarterfinals on Sunday in dramatically different fashions.
Jodar, a 19-year-old Spaniard, rallied from two sets down to oust veteran countryman Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, while Zverev, the second-seeded veteran from Germany, cruised past Dutchman Jesper de Jong 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-1.
The victors will meet for the first time on Tuesday for a spot in the semifinals.
The 34-year-old Carreno Busta lost the first three games of the match, but steadied and won the final five of the first set to stun the youngster. He carried that momentum in the second set, sprinting to a 4-0 lead and hanging on to take a two-set lead.
But Jodar would not face a break point in the final three sets. He won 38 of 47 (80.6%) of his first serves in that span. In the deciding set, the No. 27 seed broke the veteran at love in the fourth game and captured 18 of the match’s final 21 points.
“It’s difficult because he has a great backhand,” Jodar said after the match. “When we’re playing cross with the backhand, it’s difficult to change because he’s playing deep in the court. I tried not to rush the shots and not make a lot of unforced errors. I think that was the key in the first two sets, so I tried to change that.”
Jodar won his ATP-leading 19th match on clay this season.
With Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic eliminated in the second and third round, respectively, Zverev has become the heavy favorite to win his first Grand Slam title. He fell behind de Jong 3-0 in the first set, but broke in the fifth and ninth games to send it to a tiebreaker.
Zverev again fell behind 3-0 in the breaker, but reeled off seven consecutive points to take all of the momentum into the rest of the match.
“In the beginning it was a bit difficult,” Zverev said. “I didn’t start off strong and he started off really fast and really well. But once I found my rhythm, I felt very comfortable on the court and that’s the most important thing for me. I feel like my game is there, now it’s about showing it on the match court.”
Zverev, who lost two years ago to Carlos Alcaraz in the finals in Paris, struck 43 winners and committed only 26 errors. He also served at an extremely high rate of 76% on first serves and converted 79.7% of them (51 of 64) into points.
–Field Level Media
