Okay, let’s get this out of the way immediately.

Rafael Jodar is a 17-year-old tennis star. And he is from Spain.

And yes, there’s a pretty famous guy named Rafael who has won a few Grand Slam singles trophies. Twenty-two of them, to be exact.

But nope, Jodar swears he was most certainly not named after Mr. Nadal, the king of Roland Garros clay.

“My father is named Rafael, and my grandfather, and my great grandfather,” he said this week. “Of course, I love (Nadal), and of course he was my idol. But not named for him.”

Jodar might not have been named after the superstar Spaniard, but his results on the court have him dreaming of a career like that.

Jodar, a 17-year-old right hander, advanced to his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open Junior Championships on Thursday, outlasting Roland Garros champ Kaylun Bigun 6-4, 6-7, 7-5.

It was a roller-coaster of a match played on the enormous Louis Armstrong Stadium here at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center; Bigun, an American from California, was down a set and 3-1 when he showed the champion’s spirit and rallied to force a tiebreaker.

Jodar had two match points at 6-4 in the breaker, but squandered those and went on to lose the tie-break, 9-7.

Then in the third set, Bigun, due to head to UCLA to play college tennis in January, seemed to grab hold of the match by jumping out to a 3-1 lead, and then getting to within a few points of a win when he went up 5-3.

“I always believe, until the last point is over, when I give my hand to my opponent, that's when I feel the match is over,” Jodar said. “Until then, I keep pushing and keep believing in myself, that's my mentality.”

And that mentality paid off, as the Spaniard from Madrid held serve, broke, then held serve to grab a 6-5 lead, before finally winning when a Bigun backhand sailed wide.

“To be here is a dream for me, in the semi-finals and playing on this court,” Jodar said. “When I saw the schedule last night I got very excited, playing on Armstrong. Such a pleasure.”

Jodar is going to be staying in the U.S. for a few more years after the Open, as he has signed to play at the powerhouse University of Virginia program.

Andres Pedroso, the head coach for the Cavaliers, said he was struck by many aspects of his new player’s game.

“His maturity, his mentality, and his professionalism all impressed me,” Pedroso said. “He plays very organised, logical tennis. He’s really solid and makes really good decisions, and plays pretty fast.

“I expect him to come in and make an impact for us.”

Jodar said he was very interested in the atmosphere that college tennis provides, as well as getting an education at a strong academic school like UVA.

“The program and facilities are amazing, and the coaches and the team helped me a lot during the process,” Jodar said. “It’s a very different experience, college tennis, with the whole team supporting you.”

Jodar is also aware of the recent Spanish history here at the US Open; two years ago his friend Martin Landaluce was crowned the boys champion.

“I know him very well, we hit together a lot,” Jodar said. “To do what he did here would be amazing.”

The semi-finals are set for Friday, with players from four nations represented. Jodar will square off with Australian Open champion Rei Sakamoto of Japan; Sakamoto defeated unseeded Atakan Karahan of Turkey, 6-3, 6-3 in the quarter-finals. Jodar and Sakamoto have never faced each other in tournament play.

In the other boys' semi-final it will be Wimbledon champion Nicolai Budkov Kjaer of Norway, who outlasted No. 5 seed Luca Preda of Romania in a 2-hour-22-minute battle 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, against unseeded Brit Charlie Robertson.

Robertson continues to play spectacular tennis here in New York, ousting Swiss qualifier Flynn Thomas 6-1, 6-2 in a mere 55 minutes on Thursday.