On Sunday night in Madrid, Rafael Jodar went to a place where Joao Fonseca couldn’t follow

There’s a dynamic that has played out more than once between the top two players on the men’s tour, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. They go back and forth from one set to the next, trading the momentum between them and elevating each other’s games. For a period of time, Sinner looks as if he’s found his top gear, and found the answer to his rival. But all he has really done is push Alcaraz to reach his own peak, which no one else on earth can match.

Something similar happened when Rafael Jodar and Joao Fonseca met for the first time, in Madrid, on Sunday. Both are 19, and together they may create the next lasting ATP rivalry after Sinner and Alcaraz. Based on what we saw in Jodar’s 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-1 win, their matches may also bear more than a passing resemblance to their predecessors’.

Like Sinner and Alcaraz, Jodar and Fonseca belted the ball at top speed and ran each other from corner to corner. A full-throttle forehand from one was answered by a howitzer from the other. Fonseca, who is in his second year on tour and is ranked 31st, reached higher peak speeds with  his forehand—including one that he scalded 107 mph.

But it was Jodar, the 42nd-ranked rookie, who did more with the ball overall. He hit his forehand with spin and weight from the ground, then turned around and smacked it at the top of the bounce on his return. He flattened out his backhand and changed directions with it constantly. He came to net 10 more times than Fonseca, and won 11 of 12 points there. He was virtually unstoppable on his first serve, winning 81 percent of points with it.

He was also better when it mattered most, in the first-set tiebreaker and the early stages of the third set.

These matches are decided by very small details and various small points. I think I did a great job in those points, trying to play my game. Rafael Jodar

In the tiebreaker, Jodar revealed even more of his versatility. He won an early point with his best second serve of the night, and he went up 4-1 with an inside-out backhand return that surprised Fonseca. Then he closed out the set by going back to basics, with a forehand winner and a service winner.

“These matches are decided by very small details and various small points,” Jodar said later. “I think I did a great job in those points, trying to play my game.”

Jodar, a Madrid native, had the lion’s share of the crowd behind him. But Fonseca never lacks for vocal Brazilian support, and he used what he could to respond in the second set. He broke in the opening game, and held out from there. By the end of the set, he was the one forcing errors from Jodar with the weight of his forehand, and keeping him off balance with his drop shot.

Could the new kid mount a response of his own? I thought the answer came in the opening game of the third set, when Fonseca tried another drop shot. This time Jodar raced from the back of the court, easily caught up to it, and fired off a backhand winner. Not only did he show off his raw speed, he brought a renewed urgency to his game. Rather than let his second set loss rob him of confidence, he was going to respond to it with heightened aggression.

In the second game, Jodar may have shown us why when he grabbed his calf. Was he hurt or cramping? Whatever it was, he decided he was going to win the rallies as quickly and emphatically as possibly, With Fonseca serving at 0-1, Jodar hit an inside-out backhand winner from the middle of the court, and broke serve with a heavy forehand that Fonseca couldn’t handle. Instead, the Brazilian smashed his racquet into a tangle of polyester and graphite.

Did Fonseca know what was coming? If so, he was right to be unhappy. Jodar went big even earlier in rallies, and clocked the ball even harder. He held for 3-0 with a strong forehand, a deep backhand, and a drop-shot winner. He broke for 4-0 with two forehand winners and a backhand winner. Serving for 5-0, he saved two break points with an ace and a yet another forehand winner that cleaned the sideline. By then, Fonseca looked shellshocked.

“I’m very, very happy with my level,” Jodar said.

If he can reach this level on a regular basis, he may be even better than we thought.