The most anticipated duel of the Madrid Open is confirmed to happen: World No. 1 Jannik Sinner will face Spanish sensation Rafael Jódar on Wednesday, in the quarter-finals. Theirs will be the main match of the day, starting at 16:00 CEST, 15:00 BST.. It will be followed at 21:30 CEST, 20:30 BST by Arthur Fils vs. Jiri Lehecka.
Jódar, 19, is one of the breakthroughs of the year, coming from his maiden ATP 250 title in Marrakech, his semi-finals at the ATP 500 Barcelona, and now reaching his first ATP Masters 1,000 quarter-finals in Madrid; only the second player born in 2006 to do so after Martín Landaluce at Indian Wells in March.
On Tuesday afternoon, Jódar defeated Vit Kopriva 7-5, 6-0. Kopriva was, in theory, an easier rival for Jódar (the 29-year-old Czech has never won an ATP title and is now at his highest ranking in his career, World No. 66, while Jódar is already World No. 42 after four months in the ATP Tour). But Jódar had already defeated the "other" teenage star, Joao Fonseca, as well as his first Top 10, Alex de Miñaur, in the path for his first meeting against the World No. 1, on a 20-match winning streak, including defeating Cameron Norrie earlier on Tuesday.
At the moment, no tennis player seems good enough to stop Sinner, and Alcaraz will be injured maybe until Wimbledon, if not for longer. Will Jódar be the one to upset Sinner on Wednesday?