Jódar explains why the shoelaces of his sneakers break so often

Rafa Jódar has a curse with the laces of his shoes that follows him to every tournament he attends. The Spanish tennis player was in the spotlight during the North American tour because his laces broke repeatedly, which even led him to go onto the court with a bag full of shoes after receiving quite a bit of criticism. Well, it happened again today in his debut at the Laver Cup against Alexander Bublik, and in the subsequent press conference, he explained why.

"Well, I think that it's because of my sliding technique, especially on these courts, on hard courts. You know, on this type of court, the way I slide —especially when hitting a forehand or running to the net, for example, for a drop shot— creates a lot of tension in the shoe, especially in the laces. So yes, I believe that's why I break so many laces; but fortunately, I have many shoes, so I can change them easily without losing much time on it. I just have another pair or another shoe ready to make the switch quicker.

Jódar needs to reinforce his shoes

Since this has been a recurring incident in recent months, Jódar may have to find a solution to avoid stopping play so much, otherwise, the criticism will continue. Either he goes out with a bag of shoes and changes quickly as he did once before, or he reinforces the laces so that sliding does not create so much friction.

The reaction of his rivals has varied depending on the match situation. Against Musetti, when he was winning, nothing happened, but against Shapovalov he did have to provide explanations at the end of the match due to the context of the game. Today against Bublik it was at the beginning of the match and it didn't cause any animosity either, but in the future, tensions may arise with certain rivals.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Jódar explica por qué se le rompen tanto los cordones de las zapatillas