A decider that Jodar threw away
Valentin Vacherot, the world number 31 from Monaco, beat third seed Rafael Jodar 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-6 (5) in 2 hours and 32 minutes on Thursday to reach the Basel quarter-finals. Jodar is ranked 11th. For most of the final tiebreak he looked like the player who would close it out.
The opening set set the tone. Vacherot saved three break points on his own serve while Jodar faced only one, and the tiebreak turned on the very first point, which Vacherot won on the Spaniard’s serve. The second set went the other way, with Vacherot broken twice. In the decider Jodar broke at 1-1, Vacherot broke straight back, and the Monegasque then fought off two break points at 4-4.
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Rune next, and a Turin twist
Vacherot trailed 5-4 in the last tiebreak with Jodar to serve twice. He won every remaining point. The finish came on an unforced error from Jodar, and Vacherot let out a roar of relief. The Spaniard’s powerful forehand had given him trouble all afternoon, and a fair share of that final sequence was Jodar’s own doing.
Next up is Holger Rune. The Dane has beaten Quentin Halys and Hubert Hurkacz in back-to-back matches since returning from a long absence.
The result also reshapes the race for Turin. Jodar sits ninth with 3,184 points and could lose that place. Alex de Minaur is 10th on 2,930 and has reached the Vienna quarter-finals, while Novak Djokovic is 11th on 2,890 and plays his last-16 match in Basel.
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