Rafael Jodar’s start to clay court life on the ATP Tour arguably could not have gone better in his first three tournaments.
Jodar enjoyed an impressive run to the Barcelona Open semi-finals, which followed his first ATP title at Grand Prix Hassan II in Morocco.
The Spaniard won his first match at the Madrid Open by defeating Jesper de Jong in three sets to set up a match with Alex de Minaur in round two.
With his latest victory on clay, Jodar now holds a better record than Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal.
Rafael Jodar’s incredible early clay court record
Jodar’s victory against de Jong was his 10th ATP Tour match on clay and he’s stunningly won nine of them.
The Spaniard now holds the fifth-best record on clay after 10 matches, behind Andy Roddick, Ion Tiriac, Nicolas Lapentti, and Tom Okker.
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Jodar’s record in his first 10 matches is far better than Federer, Djokovic, and even Nadal managed in their early clay court career.
Nadal won 6 of his first 10 matches on the surface, so Jodar has already beaten a record from the King of Clay.
Djokovic held a slightly worse record, with four matches won out of his first 10 matches, while Federer has a record to forget.
The tennis legend was a slow starter on the surface and suffered 10 straight defeats on his least favourite surface.
Even Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz both only managed five victories from their first 10 matches on clay.
Rafael Jodar’s first 10 matches on clay
Jodar’s dream start to life on the clay has seen him rise into the top 50 of the ATP Tour rankings for the first time.
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The Spaniard has climbed 700 places in the last year and he now stands at world number 37 after his latest win in Madrid.
- Dusan Lajovic – W
- Tomas Machac – W
- Alexandre Muller – W
- Camilo Ugo Carabelli – W
- Marco Trungelliti – W
- Jaume Munar – W
- Camilo Ugo Carabelli – W
- Cameron Norrie – W
- Arthur Fils – L
- Jesper de Jong – W
Jodar’s run of 9 victories in 10 matches on clay is incredibly impressive, but arguably more impressive is that he’s only dropped four sets.
Only Arthur Fils, Tomas Machac, and de Jong have been able to take a set off Jodar during this incredible run.
Jodar will face one of his biggest tests yet against de Minaur in Madrid, although his recent form is far better than the Australian’s.
