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\u201cThe two of them will mutually help each other to keep improving and reach the top,” Alcaraz told the ATP Tour. “They have a great future.\u201d<\/p>\n
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J\u00f3dar was outside the top 600 just a year ago. He entered the top 100 in March and is up to No. 42 in the world in the latest ATP rankings released on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try to handle the pressure as I have done since I was little,\u201d J\u00f3dar said. \u201cI\u2019ve always been a very calm person both on and off the court. I know there\u2019ll be moments when things don\u2019t go as well as they have in recent tournaments. In those moments, you prove whether you\u2019re mentally strong. Those moments will also make me stronger.”<\/p>\n
J\u00f3dar advanced to the semifinals in Barcelona after three straight-set wins. He lost in three sets to eventual champion Arthur Fils in the semifinals. The Spaniard won his first tour-level trophy in Morocco earlier this month.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I was doing things right,” J\u00f3dar said. \u201cThese last few months have gone very quickly for me and I\u2019ve played a lot of matches. I can\u2019t say I could have imagined it. But I\u2019m very happy to have started the clay swing like this, having played so many matches gives me a lot of confidence for this Madrid tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n
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J\u00f3dar, a U.S. Open boys\u2019 singles champion, competed for the University of Virginia last year before deciding to turn pro.<\/p>\n
The Madrid native will make his debut in the Madrid Open against 109th-ranked Jesper de Jong. J\u00f3dar said he used to come to the Madrid Open as a spectator when he was younger. He also joined Spain’s 2024 Davis Cup team to help the team train.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never set myself a goal,\u201d J\u00f3dar told the ATP. \u201cI have to take it tournament by tournament, it\u2019s my first year on tour. I think I\u2019m still a young player and I\u2019m discovering a lot at these tournaments. I need to gain experience, compete against these kinds of players. I don\u2019t set targets for the future, just take it tournament by tournament and do my best.”<\/p>\n
Alcaraz, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, called J\u00f3dar “an outstanding player.”<\/p>\n
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“I\u2019ve been following him and I think he\u2019s broken into the tour really quickly,\u201d Alcaraz said.<\/p>\n
Landaluce’s rise<\/p>\n
J\u00f3dar and Landaluce both participated in the Next Gen ATP Finals, the tournament that features the world\u2019s top 20-and-under singles players of the ATP. J\u00f3dar beat Landaluce, but both failed to advance past the round robin.<\/p>\n
Landaluce, a member of the Rafa Nadal Academy, arrived at the Madrid Open ranked No. 99 after having reached the quarterfinals in Miami for his best-ever finish in an ATP Masters 1000 event. He fell to Jiri Lehecka in the last eight.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s very special to see myself there (in the top 100),\u201d said Landaluce, also a U.S. Open boys’ singles champion. \u201cIt\u2019s something we\u2019ve all wanted to achieve since we were young. I\u2019ve never set a specific ranking goal, but now that I\u2019m in this position, I believe I can go further, and that\u2019s what I intend to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second-ranked Alcaraz recently practiced with Landaluce, whom he called \u201can incredible player.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other Spaniards in the top 100 are Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at No. 24, Jaume Munar at No. 38, Roberto Bautista Agut at No. 93 and Pablo Carreno Busta at No. 94.<\/p>\n
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AP tennis: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/tennis<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FILE – Rafael Jodar of Spain plays a forehand return to Rei Sakamoto of Japan during their first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5808,3081,2815,710,2331,5811,3082,2812,5809,1562,1558,5812,2095,712,5810,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-9307","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-alcaraz-jodar-landaluce-madrid-open","9":"tag-alejandro-davidovich-fokina","10":"tag-arthur-fils","11":"tag-carlos-alcaraz","12":"tag-jaume-munar","13":"tag-jesper-de-jong","14":"tag-jiri-lehecka","15":"tag-martin-landaluce","16":"tag-pablo-carreno","17":"tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","18":"tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","19":"tag-product-40818-ap-virginia-sports-only","20":"tag-rafael-jodar","21":"tag-rafael-nadal","22":"tag-roberto-bautista-agut","23":"tag-spain"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}