Jodar, a Madrid native, had the lion’s share of the crowd behind him. But Fonseca never lacks for vocal Brazilian support, and he used what he could to respond in the second set. He broke in the opening game, and held out from there. By the end of the set, he was the one forcing errors from Jodar with the weight of his forehand, and keeping him off balance with his drop shot.
Could the new kid mount a response of his own? I thought the answer came in the opening game of the third set, when Fonseca tried another drop shot. This time Jodar raced from the back of the court, easily caught up to it, and fired off a backhand winner. Not only did he show off his raw speed, he brought a renewed urgency to his game. Rather than let his second set loss rob him of confidence, he was going to respond to it with heightened aggression.
In the second game, Jodar may have shown us why when he grabbed his calf. Was he hurt or cramping? Whatever it was, he decided he was going to win the rallies as quickly and emphatically as possibly, With Fonseca serving at 0-1, Jodar hit an inside-out backhand winner from the middle of the court, and broke serve with a heavy forehand that Fonseca couldn’t handle. Instead, the Brazilian smashed his racquet into a tangle of polyester and graphite.
