'Outstanding' Rafael Jodar looking like another Spanish 'diamond' at Madrid Open after Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal - 'Vamos Rafa'

For almost two decades those cries were for the great Rafael Nadal.

Now they are for a 19-year-old looking to follow in his footsteps.

Not even a professional until four months ago, Jodar won his first ATP Tour title in early April, and in Madrid he has taken out two seeds, including fellow teen Joao Fonseca, to reach the quarter-finals.

On Wednesday he will test his mettle against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.

Sinner has already got a close look at Jodar in Madrid.

The Italian was sitting courtside on Friday to watch Jodar blast through fifth seed Alex de Minaur 6-3 6-1 - and was left impressed with what he saw.

"He's a very, very talented player," Sinner said of Jodar.

"He was warming up today with Nicolai [Budkov Kjaer], the Norwegian guy. They're in a very interesting year, born 2006. There's Joao, Jodar, Nicolai, [Rei] Sakamoto: They're all very, very good players, and it's a very strong year. 

"Jodar is a very, very clean hitter [with] very easy power. You can hear the sound when he touches it, and it's a good sound coming from the racquet. He's very, very talented. He's going to be a great, great player in the future, and he's already showing it.

"I like his mentality, it's quite calm. I don't know him personally, but he seems very humble. He's a very, very good player, and I wish him only the best."

A clean hitter with easy power? Sounds like Sinner himself.

In fact, Jodar said last year - when he was still playing college tennis in the USA - that Sinner has been a role model for him.

"I’ve watched a lot of Sinner. I think his game is pretty similar to mine and I see some things in my game that I can reach that level," he told Cracket Racquets.

"Sinner has always been a role model for me. And, of course, from Spain, [Carlos] Alcaraz and Nadal, I have to say those two, because they’ve been my idols since I was young.”

Jodar’s rise has been remarkable.

This time last year he was ranked at No. 687 in the world, now he looks set to climb to No. 34 following Madrid - and could be seeded for the French Open.

Last November, he gave an indication of his talent when he beat Learner Tien at the Next Gen Finals. Soon after, he announced that he was turning pro.

He won his first Grand Slam main-draw match at the Australian Open after coming through qualifying, then made the third round in Miami.

His professional clay career couldn't have started any better as he won on debut in Marrakech, then made the semi-finals in Barcelona, before continuing his impressive form in Madrid.

His win over De Minaur was his 25th professional match and his 17th victory, better than all the recent greats, including Nadal, Alcaraz, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic at the same early stage of their careers.

Boris Becker has said Spain has "another diamond" in Jodar, who admits success has come ”very fast”.

So what is it about Jodar that has enabled him to make such a rapid rise?

Despite being inspired by Nadal, Jodar is not cut from the same cloth on clay.

He is not about grinding opponents into the dirt in gruelling rallies. Like fellow 19-year-old Fonseca, Jodar hits the ball hard and clean, isn’t afraid to pull the trigger, and is still raw at times.

He has a solid serve and has also improved his returning massively in the last few months: before Miami he had won 20% of his return games this season, but in his following 15 matches that soared to 35.6%, per the ATP.

His breakthrough in Madrid could not have been timed better.

With Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic both missing due to injury, Jodar has been one of the main attractions in the Spanish capital.

His match against Fonseca finished in the early hours of the morning, but the stands on Court Manolo Santana were still packed.

Just four years ago it was Alcaraz making waves in Madrid, beating Nadal in the quarter-finals the day after turning 19 and going on to topple Djokovic and Alexander Zverev to win the title.

Alcaraz practiced with Jodar in Australia earlier this year, and he has called the 19-year-old an "outstanding player" and an "outstanding guy both on and off the court".

On Tuesday, Jodar beat Vit Kopriva 7-5 6-0 to become the sixth teenager to reach the last eight at a Masters 1000 event this decade.

He has now won 12 of his past 13 matches, and the clash with Sinner is an intriguing one.

Last summer, Jodar told Olympics.com that the step up to the pro level ”is when it really shows whether you want to and can get the results to become a professional tennis player".

So far, he looks like he belongs.

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