Jodar and His Warrior Spirit Break New Ground in Marrakech

Spanish players are proud to be considered one of a fighting breed, cut from the same cloth as the great Rafael Nadal and his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz.

We heard those sentiments from 20-year-old Martin Landaluce last week in Miami, where the young upstart reached his first Masters quarterfinal.

“I think I have part of his mentality, part of the Spanish spirit, the fighting spirit, and I try to keep that,” Landaluce said last week in Miami.

This week in Morocco, Rafael Jodar is using the Spanish warrior ethos for inspiration.

Just a few days after making his Top 100 debut at No. 89 in the world, Jodar took out Tomas Machac of Czechia to reach his maiden ATP quarterfinal in just his seventh tour-level event.

Additionally, Jodar, who struck 17 forehand winners and won all seven points at net on Thursday, is playing his first ATP event on clay.

“Every Spanish player is a warrior. From Nadal to Alcaraz, everyone is a fighter. It’s in our DNA, so I kept doing that [today because] of them,” the 2024 US Open Boys’ champion said on court after his win.

Jodar was outside of the Top 900 a year ago, but has since been on a tear at the professional level, claiming a trio of Challenger titles. He’s 20-7 in 2026 across all levels, including a trip to the second round at the Australian Open from qualifying. It was Jodar’s Grand Slam debut.

Madrid-born Jodar is 7-6 for the season so far, and will face defending champion Alexandre Muller in the quarterfinals in Marrakech.