The uncertainty grows with Jódar's return: Will he play in Eastbourne?

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Doubts and uncertainty are growing around the figure of Rafa Jódar. The Madrilenian was facing an exciting grass court tour, quite favorable for his style of play, and where he had already achieved magnificent results in his junior stage: after his journey on clay, with 19 wins in 23 matches, expectations had soared, and the Madrilenian arrived on grass with an important status within the circuit.

However, Roland Garros 2026, for example, now seems very far away. The euphoria from those quarterfinals and his great performance in the Parisian capital has shifted to fear and concern. Just a few days ago, the player from Leganés announced his withdrawal from the ATP Queen's 2026, which was supposed to be his first stop on the grass tour, an event for which he wanted to prepare meticulously.

Jódar flew from Madrid with almost a week in advance to gain practice and court time on a surface he hadn't played on for more than two seasons. He had full training sessions for several days in the British capital until he felt discomfort in the abdomen that has not yet been resolved. It is a delicate area that requires intensive care and could be constantly scrutinized during his wide service movements, making the outlook not overly promising.

Jódar and his possible opponents in the ATP Eastbourne 2026... if he ends up playing

The tour was loaded, and the next stop for the Madrilenian was supposed to be the ATP Eastbourne 2026, a 250-level event. This, for now, remains on track: the draw takes place tomorrow, and the Madrilenian remains on the tournament list without having announced his withdrawal. This scenario is undoubtedly more optimistic: he will be a seeded player and could, with luck, face a benevolent start to the tournament that would allow him to gain competitive hours on court before debuting at Wimbledon.

However, the list of players makes it clear that this tournament's level is not trivial. At the moment, Rafa would be nothing less than the second seed, just behind Taylor Fritz; beyond that, there are a group of very well-prepared supporting players capable of causing an upset (some could surpass Rafa in the rankings based on their performances in Queen's and Halle). Names like Arthur Rinderknech, Joao Fonseca, Ugo Humbert, Fran Cerúndolo, Brandon Nakashima, and Alexander Blockx, another young player scheduled to make his grass debut in this event, are present.

The next few hours will decide: at first glance, Eastbourne seems like the right place to make a comeback to action, with challenging matchups but a sufficiently high tournament position to avoid tough opponents right at the start, after having had time for recovery and being geographically close to the All England Tennis Club. If he fails to overcome this obstacle, things will get even more complicated for Rafa... and Wimbledon, without proper preparation in a player who has never competed professionally on grass, would be in serious doubt. What will the Madrilenian end up doing?

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Crece la incertidumbre con el regreso de Jódar: ¿jugará en Eastbourne?