Former Virginia men’s tennis player Rafael Jódar has advanced to the men’s singles quarterfinals of Roland-Garros 2026. Jódar is the first player from the Cavaliers program to reach a singles quarterfinal at a Grand Slam championship.
Jódar, seeded No. 27, is competing in his second career Grand Slam. In his French Open debut, he secured a three-set victory against American Aleksandar Kovacevic and followed with a 3-1 win over Australian James Duckworth. He then won a four-hour, five-set match against American Alex Michelsen to advance to the fourth round. On Sunday, May 31, Jódar faced fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta. After dropping the first two sets 6-4, 6-4, Jódar rallied to win the final three sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 and move into the quarterfinals.
“First of all, I want to congratulate Pablo for this match and for an amazing tournament,” Jódar said. “We are good friends. We practice together sometimes when we are in Spain. I wish him the best. I’m super happy with the win.”
Jódar will next face No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals.
This season on clay courts, Jódar holds a record of 19 wins and three losses—the most wins by any player on tour this season on clay.
“I’m the same person,” said Jódar regarding his recent success and increased attention at Roland-Garros. “I always will be the same person, will always be very humble, but I appreciate all of the people that came to support me today. It was a great crowd and a great atmosphere.”
Another former Cavalier in this year’s singles draw was Brandon Nakashima, who reached the third round after victories over Roberto Bautista Agut and Luca Van Assche before falling to No. 4 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime during Saturday’s night session on Court Philippe-Chartrier.
Nakashima had previously recorded Virginia’s best finish in Grand Slam singles by reaching fourth rounds at both the Australian Open (2022) and US Open (2024). In doubles competition history for Cavaliers alumni: Dominic Inglot made semifinals at both US Open (2015) and Wimbledon (2018), while Treat Huey reached semifinals at Wimbledon (2016) in doubles as well as mixed doubles semifinals at Australian Open (2016).
