Rafa Jódar, who booked his spot in the round of 16 of the Rome Masters 1000 on Sunday after a hard-fought victory over Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi, said that after falling behind on the scoreboard, he tried to “stay calm” and play his own game while accepting “whatever happened during the match.”
“It’s never easy to play against an Italian here in Rome. So I just tried to stay calm and play my tennis,” the Madrid native said after the match on center court.
“Matteo also played very well in the second set and into the third. I just tried to be there on every point, accepting whatever came my way during the match. I’m super, super happy to get the win here,” he added.
The 19-year-old praised his opponent’s performance and acknowledged that “he was playing really well in the first set. But I knew it would be tough to maintain that level. So yes, I just tried to do things right, and matches are always very long,” he emphasized.
“Matteo raised his level a bit in the second set, and I started playing a little worse, but that was normal,” Jódar said, concluding that he felt “mentally very strong” on Sunday.
Jódar defeated Arnaldi 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in the third round of the tournament. The world No. 34, who turned 19 in March, delivered a demanding performance: he dominated the first set, lost the second, and then dug deep to win the decisive set, securing his place in the last 16. There, he will face American Learner Tien.