Powerful rising star Rafael Jodar impresses in debut victory at Wimbledon

[p]The 19-year-old made his main draw ‌debut at the All England Club on Monday and ‌looked immediately at home in his first professional match on a grass ‌court as he eased to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/gill-f-4Q5fNOq4/jodar-r-OdngshVK/?mid=OpqcK0Sh"]a 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 ‌victory[/a] over British wildcard [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gill-felix/4Q5fNOq4/"]Felix Gill[/a].[/p][p]Facing a callow Spaniard in the first match on a lush Court Three might have been seen as an ‌opportunity for 220th-ranked Gill to cause an upset ⁠against the 23rd seed.[/p][p]But ‌that never looked remotely likely as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jodar-rafael/OdngshVK/"]Jodar[/a] emulated two-time Wimbledon champions [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alcaraz-garfia-carlos/UkhgIFEq/"]Alcaraz[/a] ​and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nadal-rafael/xUwlUnRK/"]Nadal[/a] by reaching the second round as a teenage debutant.[/p][p][b]"It was a very tough match, and Felix ​played very well,"[/b] Jodar said on court.[/p][p][b]"I feel my game is very good on this surface even though I haven't played ⁠much on it, so ​I need to get used to it. That's why I came early to Wimbledon to have a few more days. Now it's on to the second match."[/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="994a8230-af59-48bb-aa87-54ebe53c603b" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="a3ffb44d-02fa-4616-b1c3-e7fd385e747e" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Ranked around 500 in the world ‌a year ago, the 6'3'' Jodar has rocketed up the rankings since and announced himself on the big stage by reaching the French Open quarter-finals this year on his debut, having won his first ATP title in Marrakech.[/p][p]While Spanish players used to be renowned as claycourt warriors whose weapons were rendered harmless on the lawns, Nadal and then Alcaraz changed all that.[/p][p]With a hugely powerful baseline game, a potent serve and an ‌ability to mix it up, Jodar showed he will be ​a threat in a dominant display against the willing Gill.[/p][embed guid="fbd3e385-0bf9-4d89-8a2a-316bff91f1d7" url="https://x.com/Wimbledon/status/2071573109228855543" social-type="twitter" /][p]Only ‌when he went a break down early in the third set did it look as though he might get dragged into a duel, but he quickly found another gear, breaking back twice to wrap up a quick win.[/p][p]Jodar's ⁠next assignment promised to be ⁠a tougher one against ‌vastly experienced fellow Spaniard [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/carreno-busta-pablo/W8WmcXdq/"]Pablo Carreno Busta[/a].[/p]