Rising tennis star Rafael Jódar has apologized and said he is still “learning how to behave on court” following an incident at the Shanghai Masters.
On Wednesday, the 20-year-old Spaniard was penalized for swearing while ordering a ball kid to give him a towel during an eventual three-set win over Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands. On Friday, after defeating three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud to reach the semifinals at the ATP Masters 1000 event in China, Jódar apologized for his actions.
“After the match, I thought about it, and I shouldn’t have done that to the ball kid. It was my mistake,” Jódar said after a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over the Norwegian.
“I respect a lot the ball kids and the umpires in the match, in all the matches and all the tournaments. I shouldn’t have treated the ball kid the way I did.
“I was very frustrated because how the match was going for me. It was a very close point. And, yeah, I didn’t mean to hurt the feelings of the ball kid or anything, I was just frustrated with me. I couldn’t control my emotions at that point of the match.
“I’ll try not to do it again, because that’s not the right way to treat the ball kids.”
After Jódar’s outburst during his match against van de Zandschulp, chair umpire Jimmy Pinoargote issued Jódar with a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct. Jódar had said, “¡Dame la puta toalla, coño!” to a ball kid — “Give me the f–––––– towel, damn it!” — which Pinoargote, who speaks Spanish, overheard.
After issuing the code violation, Pinoargote reprimanded Jódar.
“Lo entiendo, Rafa, pero así no. … Rafa, pídemelo a mí y yo se lo pido, pero así no,” Pinoargote said — “I understand, Rafa, but not like this. Rafa, ask me and I will ask them about it, but not like this.”
Jódar, who at the time attempted to deny that he had said anything bad, said Friday that he should have “accepted the warning that I got because it was totally right and the umpire made the right decision.”
Jódar has been criticized by some fans during his first full season on tour for other incidences of showing apparent disrespect to ball kids, including gesturing in frustration between points and during changeovers. At the French Open, a camera angle suggested that he had shoved a girl while walking off a court. Instead, another angle revealed she had stumbled.
“I didn’t touch her. No, no, no. I could never do that,” Jódar said in his post-match news conference.
The incident in Shanghai has overshadowed the tournament’s place in Jódar’s remarkable debut year on the ATP Tour. Should he win the tournament, he will become the fastest men’s player to reach the top 10 after reaching the top 100. The current record-holder, Boris Becker, did it in 210 days; Jódar has the opportunity to do it in 203.
He will face either Russia’s Daniil Medvedev or Tommy Paul of the U.S. in the semifinals Saturday, and Jódar chose not to separate his tennis from his behavior.
“As I am, you know, 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 to not do it again.”
