Spanish teenager holds off Michelsen to break new ground
Rafael Jodar will vie for his first Grand Slam quarterfinal spot at Roland-Garros after weathering big-serving American Alex Michelsen over five sets on Friday.
The 19-year-old set an all-Spanish showdown against resurgent former world No.10 Pablo Carreno Busta after lifting on serve to turn the screws on Michelsen 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
One of the form players leading in, the 27th seed improved his record on clay this season to 18 wins from 21 matches following his first showdown against the Californian.
“Super, super happy to be in the fourth round here in Roland-Garros. It's a dream come true,” Jodar said. “I had to fight a lot today because it was a really tough match. Alex played great during the whole match.
“I think the most important thing was trying to be mentally there. I think the mentality was one of the most important things in this match, you know, fight until the last point. That's what I always do, so I'm super happy and super proud of my fight today.”
Bidding to win three straight matches on clay for the first time, 21-year-old Michelsen looked to back up his four-set win over countryman Nishesh Basavareddy, who had seen off seventh seed Taylor Fritz first up.
Having dropped the opening-set tiebreak, he was staring down a two-set deficit with the Spaniard serving at 6-5, but a dip in concentration from his opponent threw him an unexpected lifeline.
Back-to-back double faults led to the break back and it proved especially costly as the American took control of the tiebreak to level the match after almost two hours.
The letdown lingered for the teenager from Madrid. Broken immediately at the start of the third set, he was struggling to stem the flow, but having struggled physically to put away Australia’s James Duckworth in trying conditions in the previous round, he looked more comfortable on Court Simonne-Mathieu on Friday.
The telling break came at 2-3 in the fourth set when Michelsen required treatment on his lower back and as the match ticked over three-and-a-half hours, Jodar had now firmly shifted momentum back in his favour.
Where his serve deserted him in the previous two sets, he lifted considerably to 82 per cent of first-serve points won in the fourth, compared to his average of 71 per cent for the match to that point.
The duel had one more twist in store when Michelsen pegged back the early fifth-set break, but it was to little avail.
His fresher opponent hammered home the advantage with one final break to prevail after four hours and 16 minutes.
Following in the footsteps of his idols Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, Jodar was intent on forging his own path, quick to point out he was still far from the finished product.
“I'm an aggressive player who likes to dominate the points, but I think here on clay, you know, you have to defend a little bit more, so I am trying to develop that game as well,” he said.
“I'm now trying to develop all my weak points, like, for example, the forehand, the serve, the return. I think those are things that I still have to develop.”
ROLAND-GARROS
18 May - 7 June 2026
