Jódar does not understand controversies and continues to shine in Cincinnati

Rafa Jódar continues to shine, and there is no controversy that can stop him. After being criticized for his continuous shoe lace breaks in his victory against Denis Shapovalov, the Spanish tennis player ignored the comments and overcame Alejandro Tabilo in the ATP Cincinnati 2026 with a score of 6-2 6-1 in 1 hour and 15 minutes of play, allowing him to reach the Round of 16 and maintain his excellent form. 

In fact, the adjectives to describe Jódar's rise in 2026 are running out. Rafa is already knocking on the door of the top 10 in his first full year on the circuit, and even fatigue does not affect him. After reaching the final in Washington and the semifinals in Montreal, Jódar continues to seek more, and he is getting better every day in Cincinnati as he heads towards another memorable tournament, as he demonstrated once again against a Tabilo who found it difficult to cope with the solid play of the Madrid player.

A bulldozer named Rafael

The match began in the best possible way for Jódar, as he broke serve in the first game thanks to several consecutive errors from Tabilo. The Chilean tennis player quickly reacted and even had several break opportunities in the fourth game, but the Spanish player remained solid with his serve and from the baseline to maintain the lead and prevent his rival's rebellion.

That game was a breath of fresh air for the Madrid player and a setback for Tabilo, who saw in his next service game how Jódar hit several winners to break him again and practically seal the first set. Rafa had hardly any weaknesses from the baseline, and the inconsistency of the Chilean was too big a burden to recover from, leading to a 6-2 score.

Jódar is too much for Tabilo

The start of the second set was more of the same. In the first game, Jódar had another break point, and although Tabilo withstood the storm, he could do nothing in his next service game, where a forehand from Jódar helped him take a giant step towards the Round of 16. From there, the match mirrored what happened in the first set. The Chilean threw in the towel, and with two more breaks, Rafa closed the match with a 6-1.

The best news is that after a tough match against Shapovalov, the Spanish player hardly struggled today, so he will arrive well-rested for his next round match against Flavio Cobolli. What was seen today is another clinic from a player destined for great things on the circuit, who continues to surprise time and again with performances worthy of a select few.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Jódar no entiende de polémicas y continúa brillando en Cincinnati