The rise and rise of Rafael Jodar: From college courts to Grand Slam spotlight

PARIS: Treat Huey, coach at the University of Virginia, invited Somdev Devvarman, a sharp tennis mind and close friend, to Jeddah for the Next Gen ATP Finals last December, where he was travelling with Rafael Jodar, then a UVA player.It didn’t take Devvarman long to understand why the 40-year-old coach was so excited, and within months the rest of the tennis world was watching it unfold in real time.

The 19-year-old began 2026 ranked No. 168 in the world. He broke into the top 100 following a run from qualifying to the round of 32 at the Miami Open. The Spaniard carried that momentum onto clay, claiming his maiden ATP Tour title in Marrakech before reaching the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open.

He followed that with a quarter-final run at the Madrid Masters, where a statement victory over Joao Fonseca underlined his status as one of the standout players of his generation.At the Rome Masters, Jodar added another impressive win, this time over 20-year-old American Learner Tien, ensuring that by the time he arrived at Roland Garros for the French Open, which begins Sunday, he would be seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time.

“I just try to play my tennis in all the tournaments, try to impose my game,” the 6 ft 3’ pro said of his rapid rise. “If things are not going well, I try to accept the situation and be aware that I have solutions to fix what's going on in the match.”The men’s draw is headlined by Jannik Sinner, whose form gauge currently reads red-hot. Ben Shelton, the fifth seed, sits in his quarter. Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev, seeded four and six respectively, are the marquee names in the top half of the draw.

In the bottom half are Novak Djokovic, the 24-time major winner battling an ageing body, and second seed Alexander Zverev.Jodar, seeded 27th, finds himself in the fourth quarter of the draw. He opens against American Aleksandar Kovacevic, the 27-year-old world No. 94, one of the few one-handed backhands in the top-100. Should Jodar navigate the early rounds, he could face seventh-seeded American Taylor Fritz in the third round.

Fonseca, the other 19-year-old seed at No. 28, one behind the Spaniard, opens against French qualifier Luka Pavlovic.It was Jodar’s mentality that first caught the attention of Huey and the University of Virginia staff as they scouted players during the summers of 2023 and 2024, when the Spaniard won the US Open junior title.“There wasn't one day where he came to practice and it was not serious for him. That hunger to keep getting better and keep working every single day was evident,” Huey said.

“It was amazing to see how he worked. He wasn't the greatest volleyer when he first came to school, but he was like, I need to get better, I'm going find ways to get better.”When Devvarman received the call to join Huey in Jeddah, it was curiosity as much as friendship that drew the former India No. 1, ranked as high as 62 in the world 15 years ago. Besides the opportunity to catch up with Huey, at whose wedding he was best man, Devvarman wanted to see firsthand how much the game had changed.Devvarman, 41, explained that when players assess someone rising through the ranks, the benchmark conversation usually revolves around the top 100.“I watched a practice session, and five minutes into that one practice, I was like, this is a different level,” Devvarman said. “I saw the way the workouts were done, the way the practices were done, I saw the intensity in the eyes. The second you see all of these things you realize that it's different.”Before boarding his flight home a little before Christmas, Devvarman left his friend with a prediction.“Not top-100, it is top-10 and the question is how quick!”