Rafael Jodar continued to showcase his remarkable consistency Saturday at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers, where the Spanish teenager eased past eighth seed Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-3 to reach the last eight at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
With the victory, the 19-year-old advanced to his seventh quarterfinal in the eight tournaments he has played since the start of April, including runs to the last eight at the Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome.
"Super happy with my performance today," Jodar said. "I have been playing a lot of matches, especially in the past few weeks... I am trying to go match by match, knowing that every match is difficult and I have to play very well in all the matches because everyone plays differently."
In his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with World No 12 Lehecka, Jodar never relinquished control throughout the one-hour, 14-minute clash. The Spaniard controlled the baseline exchanges with relentless hitting and repeatedly targeted Lehecka’s backhand, forcing errors off that wing.
After clinching the first set, Jodar claimed two breaks in the second set. While consistently putting pressure on Lehecka’s serve, the Spaniard also excelled behind his own delivery. Jodar finished having won 86 per cent (24/28) of his first-serve points and saved two of the three break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
"Jiri is a great player in all the facets," Jodar said. "I had to push on both my first and second serves. I think I did a great job today with my serve, happy with how I handled my service games."