Rafa Jódar: "Winning a Challenger has not changed my life"

It took me almost a month to find a slot for this interview, but it's better to give it the space it deserved than to let it get lost among the US Open reports. Today, I can finally bring you the conversation I had with Rafael Jódar (Madrid, 2006) after the Spaniard conquered his first Challenger title on Greek soil, a country from which he returned with a good haul of points that propelled him into the top 400 of the world rankings. At 18 years old and still in his first year of college, it's not bad at all. Time will tell how he manages these two ambitions in the future; for now, it seems that everything is flowing in the right direction.

What a great summer you had in Greece.

(Laughs) Yes, I had those two weeks in mind, well noted on the calendar. Although I went far in the first week, the idea was to stay for the second as well because everything worked out perfectly, it was played at the same club, and the conditions were good.

Eight wins in nine matches.

I had prepared very well, I had been playing a lot of matches during the summer. It's true that the courts there were a bit different, there were tough opponents in the draw, but I was able to adapt well. I took it match by match, and that's how I felt very good.

Any match you particularly remember as tough?

All the matches had their difficulties, but... if I had to choose one, maybe the second round. I was up against the top seed of the draw (George Loffhagen), it was a very intense duel, but I had faced him before, so that experience helped me get through it.

In the final, you dominated. Were you nervous?

I knew it was just another match, against an opponent who had won his four matches just like me, but I was confident in my chances. I had already played several matches on the center court, so I approached it calmly, always trying to play my game.

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In this past US Open, more than 60 tennis players in the main draw had gone through college. What does that tell you?

I knew there were quite a few players who had been through college, but I didn't realize there were so many! It surprises me... but at the same time, it doesn't surprise me. I know that many universities support players with great potential, players who aspire to become professionals, so they help you gather the conditions to develop. Once you finish your degree, at 21-22 years old, you are at a spectacular age to dedicate yourself to professional tennis. They handle this aspect very well there.

Perhaps there will come a point where you are so immersed in the circuit that you have to set aside your studies…

I haven't thought about it, I prefer to take things week by week, as circumstances can change very quickly here. There will always be different options; there will be weeks where you perform very well and others where you don't, but that doesn't mean the path is wrong. There are cases of people who have been playing in college and, at the same time, have had a high ATP ranking. For now, I'm not worried about that.

Is there pressure from your surroundings for you to make a decision?

Not at all, pressuring me is not the solution. I have to do what I believe is best, and they are there to support me and give me their perspective. If we weren't on the same page, it would be impossible to have that team bond.

Who do you usually travel with?

And how's life in the USA?

Life is good; it's different, although in tennis, everything is quite similar. You have to adapt, you have to know how to do things, in addition to the maturity test of living alone and coexisting with other teammates. It's been a very good experience that I have loved. The worst part is the food; this is definitely greatly missed (laughs).

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Rafa Jódar: “Ganar un Challenger no me ha cambiado la vida”