Munar Provides Glimpse of Spain's Tennis Future
Munar Provides Glimpse of Spain’s Tennis Future
Former junior finalist to play Djokovic in second round
World No. 155 Jaume Munar provided a vision of Spain’s tennis future on Monday at Roland Garros, landing the biggest victory of his career in a battle of the generations.
The 21-year-old, in only his ninth tour-level match (3-6) and just his second at a Grand Slam championship, knocked out David Ferrer, a Spanish tennis legend of the past 15 years. Munar recovered from an 0-2 sets deficit and 3-5 in the deciding set to beat 2013 finalist Ferrer 3-6, 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 7-5 in four hours and 15 minutes for a place in the second round.
“It’s the most important victory of my career,” said Munar. “Regardless of how the match went, I came back two-sets-to-love down to a role model in David Ferrer, doing it at Roland Garros, on clay and in a match like this. It has been a dream come true. This victory is a confirmation that I have taken a step forward.”
Former World No. 3 Ferrer, who was competing at Roland Garros for the 16th straight season (44-16), had never before lost in the first round in the French capital.
It is the highest-ranked victory of Munar’s career, in a completed tour-level match, following wins over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez at the 2015 German Tennis Championships (1-2 ret.) and Joao Sousa at last month’s Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (6-4, 3-6, 7-5).
Munar is currently the 13th-placed player from Spain, which boast nine in the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings. The 2014 junior Roland Garros finalist will next challenge No. 20 seed Novak Djokovic, the 2016 champion, in the second round.