Six games in three sets
Rafael Jodar lost his first US Open main-draw match 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 to Bu Yunchaokete on Wednesday. The Spaniard is the 12th seed. Bu is ranked 124th and was not supposed to be in the draw at all.
Bu entered as a lucky loser after Thanasi Kokkinakis withdrew. He had already been beaten in qualifying, packed up and taken a day off before the call came.
“I’m a really lucky loser,” Bu said. “After I lost in qualifying, I took a day off but I saw a few guys pull out, so I took the decision to come back and tried to do some work in case I could play. Yesterday, they told me I could … when I heard that, I was super excited.”
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Jodar never found a rhythm
Rain pushed the match back a day and Jodar arrived on Court 17 out of sorts. Unforced errors piled up early and handed Bu the opening set without a contest.
Bu broke again at the start of the second and kept the pressure on. Jodar sent several rackets away to be restrung, hunting for anything that might change the pattern. Nothing did. Another unforced error closed the second set and quietened the Spanish supporters packed around the court.
An hour-long rain delay interrupted the third. Bu came back out and finished the job.
“It was a little bit hard with the rain delay,” he said. “We just had to do our job and stay focused. I’m really happy for that. It may have looked very easy, but in my mind and my heart there were lots of emotions. I was very nervous.”
The 19-year-old who climbed 349 places
Jodar won the junior title at Flushing Meadows two years ago and returned as one of the sport’s fastest climbers, moving from 362nd in the world to 13th inside twelve months. That rise made this his first US Open as a seed, and it lasted three sets.
Bu, 24, recorded his first Grand Slam main-draw win at the seventh attempt. He plays Fabian Marozsan or Michael Zheng next.
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