Six years ago in 2020, Jannik Sinner met Rafael Nadal for the first time. The Italian was a 19-year-old upstart ranked 75th in the world when he ran into Nadal in the Roland Garros quarterfinals.
If you haven’t done so already, watch these highlights.
Sinner made a match of it for the first set. He was all sharp elbows, knobby knees, and potential. I had seen Sinner play live at the 2019 U.S. Open against Stan Wawrinka, and I thought even then (when the potential was more of a simmer than a rolling boil) that he was a player I needed to take note of. So I can’t say I was necessarily surprised to see him make his first quarterfinal so early.
What I WAS surprised about was his presence in that French Open quarterfinal. For a set and a bit, he did not appear in any way intimidated looking across the net at the greatest clay-court player of all time. Of course, he was not able to hang with Nadal’s physicality — the Spaniard soon took him for a trip to the bakery for a nice baguette.
The next year at the French Open, they met again. And Nadal won in straight sets again, prompting an astute user on Twitter to observe the following:
Lasagna indeed.
I still chuckle about this from time to time when I watch Sinner play. Days like today, for example. But, as soon as I thought “Who’s the plate of lasagna now?!?!?”, I had such a strong sense of deja vu watching his match against Rafael Jodar, I actually blinked at my television.
Jodar is 19 years old. He’s all sharp elbows, knobby knees, and potential. He even made a match of it in the second set, pushing the world No. 1 to a tiebreaker in front of the appreciative Spanish crowd. Sinner would not be denied, however. And like Nadal before him, the result was never truly in doubt.
You know what else I don’t doubt? That Jodar’s going to make waves. That he’s a player to take note of.
Jodar is ranked a career-high 42nd in the world — and he is one or maybe two Rome wins away from snagging a seed at the French Open. He is currently coached by his father, Rafael Jodar Sr. He recently captured the title in Marrakech, reached the semifinals in Barcelona, and now this at a Masters 1000 event. He’s a little something Ricky and I like to call: The Real Deal.
In short, tennis fans who have missed shouting, “Vamos, Rafa!” will have a chance again. Not ironically.
lasagna
Oh c’mon.🤪 Nadal was the plate of lasagna. Sinner is his own type of pasta. Not spaghetti anymore but I reckon he’s like a good bowlful of Tortellini Alla Panna these days. Smooth and rounded and goes the distance. Judge for yourself:
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=fpas&q=tortellini+con+panna&ia=images&iax=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.italianrecipebook.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F01%2FTortellini-Alla-Panna-768×1151.jpg
Jodar is more like Penne Arrabiata — energetic and explosive.
Someone is Spaghetti Carbonara but I haven’t worked out who yet. And many unfortunate players are more like Macaroni Cheese…
Penne arrabiata. haha. Nicely done.
Such a fun article you wrote, Cheryl!⚡
100% agree!
Tortellini All Panna!!!…..Hey SC, bring some of that to the US OPEN this September…will share with Cheryl and Ricky!!!
It’s dead easy to make unless you’re DIYing the tortellini (which these days you probably should because commercially they seem to be filling them primarily with sawdust nowadays). As a student I used to often pervert/innovate the recipe by adding cooked shrimp and a dash of tomato sauce so the cream would be pink to match the shrimp. That was last century when shrimp were cheap. Don’t forget to add plenty of Parmesan.
As I regrettably don’t have a TARDIS I am unable to attend tennis tournaments. We are off the beaten track and off-grid in Australia. I’m looking forward to watching some of the Roland Garros action on TV though and Wimby and the US Open, all of which are televised here.✨