Dans un monde où les jugements sont de plus en plus rapides, sans que les circonstances soient réellement prises en compte, Rafael Jodar a lui aussi dû essuyer de nombreuses critiques après son élimination d’entrée à l’US Open.
L’Espagnol a certes déçu face à Yunchaokete Bu au premier tour, à New York, mais un faux pas à 19 ans, lors de sa première véritable saison sur le circuit principal, n’a rien d’anormal. Sur les réseaux sociaux, plusieurs internautes ont pourtant choisi de le pointer du doigt.
Jodar n’a que 19 ans
Dans le dernier épisode du podcast Nothing Major, les anciens grands noms de l’ATP John Isner et Steve Johnson ont pris la défense de Jodar. "He's only 19. It's all so new to him. I think it's crazy that... maybe we should slow down a little bit. In a couple of years, no one will remember this match, when he's actually fighting to win Grand Slams, at least in my opinion. He's pretty good. He hasn't been on the tour that long. He probably did nothing but wait, wait and wait until he could play his first match at the US Open. It took him forever to get into the match," a déclaré Isner.
Johnson a ajouté : "I told him that sooner or later he would run out of energy. Sooner or later he would have to play a bad match. It's really a shame that he played his worst match of the year at the US Open. It was inevitable that sooner or later he would have a bad day, and that day came. It was a shame that it happened at the US Open, where he was the number 12 seed, a player who should aim to get to the second week and even beyond.
But in this match he had to deal with a lot of difficulties. He changed rackets something like five or six times in the first set alone. He just couldn't find the right tension. He had a bad day, and sooner or later it had to happen."