Terrifying sign for Rafael Jodar? Jim Courier reveals what keeps him up at night

Rafael Jodar is set to make his Roland Garros debut on Monday, hoping to continue what’s already been a breakout season.

The 19-year-old made headlines earlier this year with a semi-final run at the Barcelona Open, playing in front of his home fans. Since then, he’s backed it up with quarter-final appearances in both Madrid and Rome, climbing to 29th in the ATP rankings.

It’s still early days, but there are already plenty of people who believe he could be a serious threat at Roland Garros.

But tennis legend Jim Courier pointed out one potential issue Jodar might face in Paris. Speaking on Tennis Channel before the tournament began, Courier raised some doubts about how well Jodar will handle best-of-five matches, especially given his relative lack of experience at that level.

Jim Courier on Rafael Jodar’s prospects at Roland Garros

Speaking to Clay, Courier said: “Rafa is young, and he’s so talented. He’s so good. But we just don’t know. We just don’t know what it’ll look like four hours in and a fifth set.

“Is he still going to have the ability to hit these powerful shots on the run the way he does in these best-of-three set matches?

“I think Warren Buffett, the great American investor, had a great expression. He said, you only know who’s swimming naked when the tide goes out.

“And you kind of only know if the players have done the work physically when they get to a fifth set.”

Jodar made his Grand Slam main draw debut earlier this year at the Australian Open, after getting through qualifying.

He picked up his first major victory by defeating Rei Sakamoto of Japan in five sets.

But his time in Melbourne ended in the second round, where he was beaten by Jakub Mensik in straight sets. Now, he’ll make his Roland Garros debut against Aleksandar Kovacevic in the opening round.

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