Jódar assesses his defeat today: "I have to learn from this"

Rafael Jódar has just suffered one of the most difficult defeats of his short career in his debut at the US Open 2026, where he was eliminated in the first round after being overwhelmed by Yunchaokete Bu. The most concerning aspect is not the result itself, but the performance of the Spaniard, who appeared unrecognizable throughout. Nevertheless, he has taken it philosophically, viewing it as a learning experience so that it does not happen again in the future.

Nor can we take away credit from Chinese tennis, which was near excellence and further aggravated the situation to the point that Jódar could barely win 4 games in the entire match. In the press conference, he stated that this is something that can happen to anyone, although it still represents a very hard blow to his aspirations, as he had many chances to go far in another Grand Slam after a dream season where he is on the brink of the top 10 of the ATP ranking.

Jódar gives credit to Bu and does not seek excuses for his defeat

"He played better than I did, and that's why he won today. Physically I was fine. Yes, that's how the match was. He played better than I did, so he deserved to win today."

Learning from a bad match

"I tried to give my best today. It didn’t work out. Yes, I have had a good season overall, so yes, I will need time to recover and reflect on this tournament and what I can learn from it."

Rain delays

"I just tried to handle it the best I could. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, because I had to wait a lot, both yesterday and today, but that's how things are. We cannot control the rain, so it’s difficult for both players."

Jódar talks about how to recover from such a tough defeat

"Well, the match has just ended, so I don’t know very well what I can improve or what I should do for next time. I’m new on the circuit. It’s normal for things like this to happen because I’m a newcomer. I’m just trying to learn so that it doesn’t happen again. It can happen to anyone the first time. We are human. The second time, if I haven't learned from this, it could be serious."

Additionally, the Spanish tennis player stated that the accumulation of matches in this North American tour has not been a factor in the result, as he did not feel tired. It just wasn’t his day, and he needs to recover as soon as possible for the upcoming Asian tour that is just around the corner. It is important to note that this is his first full year on the circuit and he has played at a very high level throughout the season, but today it has been demonstrated that he is also human and there are bad days at the office.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Jódar valora su derrota de hoy: "Tengo que aprender de esto"