{"id":2101371,"date":"2026-08-19T18:00:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2101371"},"modified":"2026-08-19T18:00:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:00:43","slug":"serena-williams-coach-predicts-when-rafael-jodar-will-win-first-grand-slam-amid-novak-djokovic-comparison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2101371","title":{"rendered":"Serena Williams&#8217; coach predicts when Rafael Jodar will win first Grand Slam amid Novak Djokovic comparison"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Serena Williams\u2019 coach predicts when Rafael Jodar will win first Grand Slam amid Novak Djokovic comparison<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/richie-mills\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Richie Mills                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"19 Aug 2026 7:00 PM\" data-ps-date=\"19 Aug 2026 7:00 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1787162443\"><br \/>\n                            19 Aug 2026 7:00 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on 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to twitter\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Ftennis-features%2Fserena-williams-coach-predicts-rafael-jodar-win-first-grand-slam-novak-djokovic-comparison\" class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" aria-label=\"Share to linkedin\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <a class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/\/send\/?text=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Ftennis-features%2Fserena-williams-coach-predicts-rafael-jodar-win-first-grand-slam-novak-djokovic-comparison\" aria-label=\"Share to whatsapp\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <a class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/share.flipboard.com\/bookmarklet\/popout?v=2&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Ftennis-features%2Fserena-williams-coach-predicts-rafael-jodar-win-first-grand-slam-novak-djokovic-comparison\" aria-label=\"Share to flipboard\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"sm:hidden flex items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" 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!my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3FA8DBH-1-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured: Rafael Jodar looks on in Cincinnati\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Rafael Jodar has been told when he is likely to win a Grand Slam                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>Rennae Stubbs has defended Rafael Jodar amid the ongoing \u2018shoelace gate\u2019 saga, while outlining when the Spaniard is likely to win his first Grand Slam.<\/p>\n<p>This time last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/rafael-jodar\">Jodar<\/a> was balancing life at the University of Virginia and considering turning professional.<\/p>\n<p>Since the 19-year-old made that full-time commitment to tennis, he has risen from outside the top 150 to 11th in the rankings and is on course to qualify for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/atp-tour\">ATP Tour<\/a> Finals.<\/p>\n<p>The right-hander won his first title in Morocco in April, has enjoyed deep runs in Madrid, Rome, the French Open, and Canada, and many are tipping him to win a major one day.<\/p>\n<p>Despite all the plaudits that have come his way, the youngster has also been mired in controversy.\u00a0 Jodar was wrongly accused of shoving a ball girl at the French Open, with the angle of the video being quite misleading.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>More Rafael Jodar News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/rafael-jodar-blunt-potential-comparison-jannik-sinner-carlos-alcaraz\">\u2018I don\u2019t think Rafael Jodar can improve like Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/rafael-jodar-responds-to-denis-shapovalovs-complaints-about-him-at-the-cincinnati-open\">Rafael Jodar responds to Denis Shapovalov\u2019s complaints about him at the Cincinnati Open<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as<span>\u00a0<\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span>for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Days later, Jodar appeared to snub a young mascot at Roland Garros, and in Cincinnati and Canada, he came under fire as his broken shoelaces led to stoppages in play.<\/p>\n<p>Denis Shapovalov, in particular, took umbrage with those laces in the last Masters 1000 event before the US Open, leading to a great deal of debate on social media.<\/p>\n<p>Amid his run in Cincinnati, Serena Williams\u2019 coach, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/rennae-stubbs\">Stubbs<\/a>, has defended the youngster, in addition to commenting on his \u201centitled\u201d on-court antics, while also making a big prediction for him in the coming years.<\/p>\n<p>The Australian said on the latest episode of her <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-rennae-stubbs-tennis-podcast\/id1393881115\" target=\"_blank\">podcast<\/a>, \u201cOne thing I don\u2019t like is players pointing at the towel, like \u2018Get me the towel\u2019. Little things like that, I think, annoy people when they watch him [Jodar]; they feel like he is a little bit entitled at times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut people saying, \u2018He\u2019s taking a MTO (medical timeout) to fix his shoe and his shoelace\u2019. And it\u2019s like, guys, his shoelace is broken, what do you want him to do? Play without a f****** shoe tied up?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stubbs also believes there are similarities with the criticism Jodar is getting to when a young <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/novak-djokovic\">Novak Djokovic<\/a> was criticised when he was coming up the rankings, particularly with his medical timeouts.<\/p>\n<p>She continued,\u00a0\u201cThere are certain things I think people are grabbing to. Like when Novak [Djokovic] would do stuff, people would think it was nefarious.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaving been around him and off the court and his dad is such a delight, I think he is a lovely kid that has a little snippety personality on the court sometimes. He\u2019s young, give him time. As far as his talent, he is going to win a major in the next three years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>WHAT NEXT? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/former-world-no-1-rafael-jodar-hire-top-coach-meteoric-rise-father\">Former world No 1 urges Rafael Jodar to hire top coach despite meteoric rise<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Serena Williams\u2019 coach predicts when Rafael Jodar will win first Grand Slam amid Novak Djokovic comparison Richie Mills 19 Aug 2026 7:00 PM Rafael Jodar has been told when he is likely to win a Grand Slam Rennae Stubbs has defended Rafael Jodar amid the ongoing \u2018shoelace gate\u2019 saga, while outlining when the Spaniard is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-2101371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2101371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101371\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2101371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2101371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2101371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}