Rafael Jodar avenges Barcelona loss, beats Arthur Fils in Washington; Cruz Hewitt notches first ATP win
Spanish 19-year-old Rafael Jodar defeated France's Arthur Fils 7-6(5), 6-3 in the ATP 500 Washington first round, while 17-year-old Cruz Hewitt, son of Lleyton, earned his maiden tour-level victory over Marcos Giron.
Jodar exacts revenge for Barcelona
Rafael Jodar, the 19-year-old Spaniard ranked 24th, defeated France's Arthur Fils 7-6(5), 6-3 in the first round of the ATP 500 Washington Open on Tuesday. The win avenged a semifinal loss to Fils at the Barcelona Open in April, where Fils rallied from a set down to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 and went on to claim the title by beating Russia's Andrey Rublev in the final. Jodar has since built a strong clay-court season, winning his maiden ATP title in Marrakech and reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and the Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome. In Washington, he faced humid, stifling heat and acknowledged the difficulty of playing during the day.
The conditions are tough here. It's the first time I compete in the tournament, but I knew the conditions were going to be complicated, especially playing during the day.
How the match unfolded
The opening set began with an exchange of service breaks, then settled into a tight holding pattern until the tiebreak. Jodar raced to a 6-3 lead, missed two set points on Fils's serve, but closed it out 7-5 on his own delivery. In the second set, he broke immediately in the third game for a 2-1 advantage. Fils, who has been managing hip issues for months, called for the physiotherapist at 3-2 down with apparent left thigh pain. The medical timeout did not disrupt Jodar's rhythm; he held serve comfortably and broke again at 5-3, converting his second match point to seal the win in one hour and 52 minutes.
- Jodar wins tiebreak 7-5 after leading 6-3
- Jodar breaks Fils in third game for 2-1 lead
- Fils receives treatment for left thigh pain at 3-2 down
- Jodar breaks again to close 6-3 on second match point
Jodar's statistical line showed 16 winners against 26 unforced errors. He won 74% of first-serve points and 63% of second-serve points, saving four of the five break points he faced.
- Winners
- 16
- Unforced errors
- 26
- 1st serve pts won
- 74
- 2nd serve pts won
- 63
- Break pts saved
- 80
Cruz Hewitt makes his mark
In another first-round match, 17-year-old Australian Cruz Hewitt, son of former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, earned his maiden ATP victory by beating American Marcos Giron 6-3, 6-4. The world No. 612 did not face a single break point and used a solid serve to control the match. At 1.85 m, Hewitt is taller than his father (1.78 m) and leveraged that height advantage. Lleyton Hewitt won his first ATP match at age 16 in Adelaide in 1998, a tournament he went on to win. Cruz's win came in his first main-draw appearance at an ATP 500 event.
What comes next
Jodar will face Japan's Kei Nishikori in the second round. Nishikori, 36, is playing the final tournaments of his career and plans to retire after the Tokyo event in a few weeks. Hewitt could meet compatriot Alex de Minaur next, provided de Minaur defeats Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas. De Minaur's mentor is Lleyton Hewitt, adding a layer of intrigue to a potential all-Australian clash. For Jodar, a deep run in Washington would further cement his transition from clay-court specialist to hard-court contender on his first North American swing.
