Rafael Jodar said he did not touch a ball girl and that the social media clip that sparked the accusation was misleading, after the 19-year-old’s French Open third-round win over Alex Michelsen on Friday. The Spaniard, who reached the top 16 at Roland Garros with a five-set victory at Court Simonne-Mathieu, said the moment was badly interpreted as he walked away for a toilet break.
The misunderstanding landed in the post-match press conference, where a reporter accused Jodar of pushing the ball girl. He rejected that flatly, saying he had been coming back to the court while asking his father for the things he had left for him after the break. The footage showed the child lose her footing and trip over the court cover as he passed, but Jodar said there was no contact at all.
His 7-6, 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win had already put him into the fourth round of a major for the first time, a breakthrough that should have defined the day before the clip did. Instead, attention quickly turned to the video online and the accusation that followed, which added an unnecessary edge to a routine walk back across the court. Jodar said the ball girl was walking backwards when she fell and blamed the court cover behind her, not his movement.
That explanation matters because the clip circulated fast enough to turn a split-second stumble into a misconduct claim, even though Jodar insisted he never pushed or touched her. He also made clear he holds the ball kids in high regard, saying he appreciates the work they do in the heat and would never push one. The French Open has now handed him a far bigger test on court than the one he just survived off it: fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta waits next, and Jodar will try to make the tennis do the talking again.
