Rafael Jodar is learning some valuable lessons in Shanghai, both on and off the court.
The 20-year-old Spaniard rallied past Casper Ruud 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the Shanghai Masters semifinals, then took time in his post-match press conference to address backlash from an incident that occurred earlier in the week when he berated a ball kid during his round-of-16 victory over Botic van de Zandschulp.
Jodar received an unsportsmanlike conduct warning for his behavior. It wasn’t the first time the young Spaniard has behaved in a less than admirable way to ball kids, and his actions drew criticism on social media.
On Thursday, Jodar took full responsibility.
“It was my mistake,” Jodar said when fielding questions from the media (two of the four questions he took were about the incident). “After the match, I thought about it, and I shouldn’t have done that to the ball kid.”
Jodar explained that his frustration with the match had boiled over, but acknowledged that it was no excuse for his actions.
“I couldn’t control my emotions at that point of the match,” he explained. “I’ll try not to do it again, because that’s not the right way to treat the ball kids.”
Jodar, who will face Daniil Medvedev for the first time in the semifinals in Shanghai on Saturday, said the umpire was entirely justified in issuing the warning, and – when prompted – expressed his desire to apologize personally to the ball kid if he gets the opportunity.
“If I have any chance to see him here at the venue, I’ll try to tell him that I’m very sorry,” he said.
For Jodar, it’s all a part of growing up on tour. He vows to be better, and hopefully he will.
“As I am learning how to do the forehand or how to do the backhand or how to do the serve, I’m also learning how to behave on the court,” he said.
“I’m not perfect, I’m a human, I make mistakes, so I’ll learn from this mistake.”
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