Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Alexander Zverev, firmly installed as the new favourite to win the French Open men’s crown, knows he’ll have to next repel the “incredibly special” talent of teenager Rafael Jodar after a remarkable comeback win for the youngster.
The 19-year-old, who’s break-out campaign on clay has already featured him trouncing Alex de Minaur, looked as though his adventure might be coming to an end as he surrendered the first two sets to his hardened Spanish compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta.
But stepping up to move into a completely different gear to the 34-year-old, he hit back to concede just five games over the final three sets and prevail 4-6 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-2 in the fourth round on Court Suzanne Lenglen after three hours 41 minutes on Sunday.
Now, though, the education is set to be swiftly accelerated as the lanky kid from Madrid, who was ranked 707 in the world a year ago and 165 at the start of this year, faces a quarter-final against Zverev, who may well never have a better chance to shed that irritating tag of ‘best player never to win a men’s slam’.
The exits of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic and the injury absence of Carlos Alcaraz have paved an inviting path for the world No.3, but Zverev is not entertaining any discussion on whether he’s now an outstanding favourite.
“I will give the same answer I gave two days ago,” said the second seed after he’d disposed of Dutch lucky loser Jesper de Jong 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-1. “I will focus on the matches that are ahead of me. This is the only thing that I can control.
“I focused on de Jong, I played a good match. I won. I’m going to focus on Jodar next and hopefully play a good match. That’s the only thing that is in my concern.
“I feel like I’m handling the situations quite well, and I will do everything possible to continue doing that.”
He sounded rather less chilled than Jodar, who sounds as if he’s just having a ball.
“I’m trying to enjoy the moment,” said the teen who’s now up to No.22 in the live rankings.
“I was talking to my friends and to my family before the match. It’s a gift, to play a fourth round in a French Open. So my goal was to enjoy it.”
Zverev is clear of the danger he poses, of course.
“He’s somebody that can accelerate the ball from both sides, which is incredibly special,” said the German.
“He’s a very aggressive player. He’s very young. He has tremendous talent — I’m looking forward to our first meeting.”
