Deserved or still too low?

Jodar is rated insanely low in every one of his matches; sometimes we get it, sometimes we don’t...

The young Spaniard is absolutely on fire in his game and in his results, he’s the one making the weather. I’ve seen insane matches where he was unplayable and other matches where he was completely overwhelmed by the level on the other side of the net. I feel like his current limit is his consistency, and once he runs into a guy stronger than him he has absolutely no resources to get out of it, his losses are often one-sided. This week he seems on fire, he came through qualies and has only dropped one set while limiting his blackouts. I’m just going to tone things down a bit because in my opinion he’s only beaten players he was supposed to beat; I’m waiting for a tougher opponent to really see what he can do this week.

We’re going to get that tougher opponent today with Etcheverry. The Argentine is a safe bet on the ATP Tour, and even if hard courts aren’t his preferred surface, he showed again yesterday against Bergs that you really have to want it to beat him. A 7–6 7–6 win in 2h37 and an impression of solidity that wore Bergs down; the Belgian had absolutely no answers by the end of the match. Etcheverry’s mentality, physicality and seriousness are his biggest weapons before facing Jodar; he’s ready to play 4 hours without making an error, and the Argentinians in the stands will help him too.

A big challenge awaits Jodar. He can take a set by playing magnificent tennis, but above all I’m expecting him to implode over the long run against a player who’s terribly hard to beat.