Rafael Jodar is into the quarter-finals in his first French Open appearance

Paris (France) (AFP) - Rafael Jodar continued his dream French Open debut by roaring back from two sets down to beat Pablo Carreno Busta and reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final on Sunday.

The 19-year-old Spaniard, playing at a major for only the second time, downed his compatriot 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Jodar was ranked 707th in the world this time last year, losing in the first and second rounds of second-tier Challenger events in the United States during the 2025 French Open.

Twelve months on, he will face second seed Alexander Zverev, the title favourite after the early exits of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, for a semi-final place at Roland Garros.

“It’s different, I’m the same person,” said Jodar. “I appreciate all the people who came here to support me today… It was amazing to play here.”

Jodar, who reached the quarter-finals in both Madrid and Rome earlier in the clay-court season, moved to a tour-best 19 wins on the red dirt this year, overtaking world number one Sinner.

Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner have shared the past nine Grand Slam titles between them, a run that will end in a week’s time, and Jodar’s beaten opponent believes the teenager can force his way towards the very top.

“Competing against Jannik and Carlos is something he’ll be able to do very soon,” Carreno Busta said of his compatriot.

“Of course, he can be at that level. It’s his first year, he’s very young, and he has a lot of room to improve.”

Carreno Busta was eyeing a first Grand Slam quarter-final since his run to the 2020 US Open semis, when he infamously defeated Djokovic via default in the fourth round.

The 34-year-old fought back from 4-1 down to take the opening set in Paris, before stretching his run of consecutive games to nine en route to opening up a two-set advantage.

Jodar took a lengthy break before the start of the third and emerged rejuvenated, racing through the set in 30 minutes to get himself back into the match.

Carreno Busta, a former top-10 player now ranked 89th, opted for a medical time-out before the fourth set.

But it did not have the desired effect, as Jodar forced a decider, hammering 10 winners and breaking twice in the set.

He romped through the fifth set as well, sealing victory despite wobbling from 40-0 up in the final game on his fifth match point with a rasping forehand.