The first name helps. A fist-pumping Spaniard scurrying around the Roland Garros clay, thumping two-handed backhands into the corners as cries of ‘Vamos, Rafa!’ echo from the stands. It doesn’t half take you back.
When Rafael Nadal won the first of his 14 French Opens in 2005, Rafael Jodar was still 15 months away from being born.
Yet here, in the absence of the injured Carlos Alcaraz, Spain had their next great clay-court hope to cheer.
At least Nadal rarely put his fans through the wringer in Paris like his 19-year-old namesake did on Friday.
Nadal was taken the distance just three times in his entire Roland Garros career yet, in only his third match here, Jodar needed a four-hour, five-set epic against 21-year-old American Alex Michelsen to book his place in the fourth round, where he will face countryman Pablo Carreno Busta on Saturday.
Make no mistake, though, this lad is already a master on clay. This was his 21st Tour-level match on the surface and he has won 18 of them. Only Andy Roddick won more across his first 20. Jodar has won more than Nadal (13), Alcaraz (13), Novak Djokovic (10) and Roger Federer (16) managed.
Rafael Jodar was cheered to the rafters during his five-set win at the French Open on Friday
The Spanish teenager has won 18 of his 21 Tour-level encounters on clay and hopes to emulate Rafa Nadal
So thrilling was this battle of the rising stars that despite the 34ºC heat and rising humidity, barely a single seat in the sun on Court Simone-Mathieu, the charming court surrounded by greenhouses, sat empty.
Jodar needed to come from a set down but, like Alcaraz, he has that elusive quality all the best players have of being able to play at his most free when the match is tightest.
He struck a ruthless double-handed backhand into one corner to move 5-3 up in the decider, then crunched a forehand to the opposite one in the finale. Michelsen, who had given as good as he got for four hours and 16 minutes, finally slumped his shoulders and dropped his head.
When Jodar struck the winning blow, he dropped his racquet to the ground and pointed to his head. Those who have worked with him say his focus is unlike anything they have ever seen at such a young age. ‘The match is not over until you finish the last point,’ said Jodar.
‘That was my mentality during the fourth and the fifth set and that was one of the reasons I could turn around this match.’
After Jannik Sinner’s loss blasted the draw wide open, there is real talk this Spanish teenager could go all the way.
Jodar has already won a title in Marrakech before making the quarter-finals in Madrid and Rome as well as the semi-finals in Barcelona.
It was in Madrid where this prodigy was catapulted into stardom after Alcaraz withdrew injured on the eve of the event and the hometown boy took centre stage, reaching the last eight where only Sinner could take him down.
Nadal won the French Open 14 times despite playing most of his career with chronic foot pain
Even Jude Bellingham, Jodar’s favourite footballer, sat courtside to watch him.
When Jodar fought back from a set down to defeat Dutchman Jesper de Jong, he turned to Bellingham and stood with his arms outstretched, in tribute to the midfielder’s trademark celebration, and signed ‘Hey Jude’ on the TV camera.
He feels at home among the superstars, but with such stardom comes scrutiny and, at times, controversy.
During his victory, footage went viral on social media that appeared to show him shoving a ball girl out the way as he left court. He was even quizzed about it after the match, though it later became clear he was the victim of terrible timing and the camera angle as the ball girl tripped on the court covers.
‘My role model in tennis when I was younger was Nadal,’ said Jodar. ‘Then in the last few years before I turned pro, I would say Alcaraz. But I try to follow my own path. I try to develop as a player, but with my own spirit.’
Eighth seed Alex de Minaur, fiance of Britain’s Katie Boulter, was the tournament’s latest big-name casualty as he was beaten 0-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 by 26th seed Jakub Mensik.
