Even at just 22 years old and already established as one of the world’s top tennis talents, Carlos Alcaraz is paving the way for a new wave of elite Spanish men’s tennis prospects — and two rising stars are ready to seize their moment at the 2024 Madrid Open after Alcaraz was forced to withdraw due to a wrist injury.
Nineteen-year-old Rafael “Rafa” Jódar, a prospect sharing a first name and nickname with Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal, has captured global tennis attention over the past 12 months with one of the fastest ranking climbs the ATP Tour has seen in recent years. Just one year ago, Jódar sat outside the ATP’s top 600. By March 2024, he had cracked the top 100, and the latest ATP rankings released ahead of the Madrid Open pushed him all the way to world No. 42, booking him a spot in his first ever main draw at the Madrid-based ATP Masters 1000 event.
Jódar’s rapid ascent hit new milestones earlier this spring: he notched three straight-set wins to advance to the Barcelona Open semifinals, took home his first career ATP tour-level trophy at the Morocco Open earlier this May, and booked a spot in Spain’s 2024 Davis Cup training squad. A former US Open junior boys’ singles champion, Jódar spent 2023 competing collegiately at the University of Virginia before making the decision to turn professional. For the Madrid native, this week’s tournament carries extra personal meaning: he attended the event as a young spectator growing up, and will make his Madrid main draw debut against Netherlands’ Jesper de Jong, ranked world No. 109.
Speaking ahead of his debut, Jódar emphasized his calm approach to the sudden attention and pressure that has come with his breakout run. “I try to handle the pressure as I have done since I was little. I’ve always been a very calm person both on and off the court. I know there’ll be moments when things don’t go as well as they have in recent tournaments. In those moments, you prove whether you’re mentally strong. Those moments will also make me stronger,” he said. Rather than setting rigid long-term ranking targets, Jódar said he plans to focus on gaining experience in his first full season on tour: “I’ve never set myself a goal. I have to take it tournament by tournament, it’s my first year on tour. I think I’m still a young player and I’m discovering a lot at these tournaments. I need to gain experience, compete against these kinds of players. I don’t set targets for the future, just take it tournament by tournament and do my best.”
Joining Jódar as a hometown fan favorite in Madrid is 20-year-old Martin Landaluce, another top Spanish prospect who recently earned his own place in the ATP top 100, entering the tournament ranked world No. 99. Like Jódar, Landaluce is a former US Open junior boys’ singles champion, and he trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy. Landaluce notched his best ever ATP Masters 1000 result earlier this spring, reaching the Miami Open quarterfinals before falling to Czech player Jiri Lehecka. Both Jódar and Landaluce competed at the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals, the annual showcase for the tour’s top players under 20 years old; Jódar defeated Landaluce in their head-to-head matchup, though neither advanced past the round-robin stage.
Reflecting on his breakthrough into the top 100, Landaluce said the milestone has only motivated him to reach higher. “It’s very special to see myself there (in the top 100). It’s something we’ve all wanted to achieve since we were young. I’ve never set a specific ranking goal, but now that I’m in this position, I believe I can go further, and that’s what I intend to do,” he said.
Alcaraz, the seven-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 2 who was forced to pull out of Madrid to recover from his wrist injury, has already thrown his full support behind the two rising stars, saying the pair will push each other to new heights in the coming years. “The two of them will mutually help each other to keep improving and reach the top. They have a great future,” Alcaraz told the ATP Tour. He praised Jódar specifically for his rapid adjustment to the top level of tour tennis, calling him “an outstanding player” who “has broken into the tour really quickly.” Alcaraz also spoke highly of Landaluce after recently practicing with him, describing the 20-year-old as “an incredible player.”
Jódar and Landaluce are far from the only Spanish men ranked inside the ATP top 100 ahead of the Madrid Open. They join Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (No. 24), Jaume Munar (No. 38), Roberto Bautista Agut (No. 93) and Pablo Carreño Busta (No. 94) in the top tier of men’s tennis, signaling a continued era of depth for Spanish men’s tennis.