Rafa Jódar achieves epic comeback in Cincinnati after overcoming problems with his shoes

The Cincinnati Masters 1,000 experienced a day of high tension this Saturday, with the epic comeback of the Spanish Rafa Jódar against the Canadian Denis Shapovalov, and the tough defeat of the Serbian Novak Djokovic against the Argentine Thiago Agustín Tirante, in which the winner of 24 majors suffered a worrying physical indisposition. Jódar, who debuted in Cincinnati as world number 11, was losing 1-5 in the third set against the Canadian, but overcame and was able to annul two match points and seal a vibrant victory by 7-5, 4-6 and 7-5 after almost three hours of battle. The 19-year-old from Madrid overcame some discomfort in his left leg and had to interrupt the game on two occasions due to problems with the laces of his shoes. The second time occurred in the third set, with 3-5 for Shapovalov, and the Canadian, annoyed, complained to the chair umpire that he was cooling the match at a critical moment for him. Jódar had the match stopped for more than a minute due to this problem. "It is what it is, it is something that I cannot control. For the next game I will try to have more shoes in case this problem occurs again," said Jódar after his victory. The Spaniard turned to his father to help him with the new laces on his shoes, while Shapovalov was outraged on the bench after missing the first opportunity to close out the match. The Canadian also reproached him at the end of the match, in the greeting between both tennis players when Jódar achieved victory. Even so, the conversation ended with a friendly shake of hands and the controversy was settled.