An often-overlooked player on the ATP Tour, Spain’s Jaume Munar has broken the ATP top 40 for the first time in the live rankings, after his first ever run to the second week of a Grand Slam, at the 2025 US Open.
A Surprise Run on Hard Courts
Munar’s professional success has largely come on clay, the vast majority of his championships on the Challenger Tour, a circuit that he has been a steady hand on, have been on clay, but it’s the final hard-court slam of the year where he finally put together three consecutive victories.
Munar needed four sets against the unheralded Jamie Faria in round 1, and he entered the tournament in good form after the quarterfinal in Winston-Salem. Consecutive routine wins followed, Gabriel Diallo was his seeded opponent in round 2, and he won in straights, as Diallo wracked up errors. Zizou Bergs had benefited from a walkover in the previous round, but was no match for Munar on Saturday, falling in straights. With defensive steadiness from behind the baseline, Munar simply let Bergs flail about, to reach the biggest stage of his career where a heavily favored Lorenzo Musetti awaits. This stage is also Musetti’s best at the US Open, having reached the second week in New York for the first time.
Munar’s ability to absorb pressure is boosting his confidence. A Spanish player in the shadow of the elite Carlos Alcaraz, a player he battled for nearly three hours this season at ATP Queens Club, Munar receives limited publicity on tour, but his best Grand Slam results have come in 2025, as he also reached the third round of Wimbledon this year, finally showing promise on faster surfaces. Munar was a promising junior, but it’s taken him a decade to ascend to this level on the ATP Tour.
Two Wins over Musetti, A Good Omen for the Round of 16
Munar will be pleased to face Musetti in the round of 16, Musetti is a player he has a 2-1 h2h record against, he won on clay in Santiago in 2023, , losing to Musetti at Wimbledon that same year. He narrowly won their meeting on hard courts in Hong Kong this year, coming back from a set down and taking a very close second and third set to secure victory. After that strong start to the season, Munar spoke about the improvements to his game, crediting an improved serve and work with a sports psychologist for his improved results. Speaking to the media, his trainer Domingo Roselló stated “Munar’s preparation this year has been different from usual as he plays the entire tour in the United States, which allows him to be much more prepared. The coach says: “We want to consolidate ourselves in this position of the ranking and work on those nerves that sometimes appear in some matches, we just need him to be calm and show his true level.”
We will see on Monday against Musetti, if all the improvements will be enough for Munar to pull off an uspset.
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images
