Rafael Jodar just does not know when he is beaten when it comes to the 2026 Rolex Shanghai Masters.
The 20-year-old Spaniard outlasted Casper Ruud 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Friday afternoon to earn his fourth consecutive victory from a set down at the ATP Masters 1000 event. Jodar broke Ruud’s serve five times across the second and third sets to keep alive his Shanghai debut run and become the youngest semi-finalist in event history.
“I was feeling great on court. I think it was a very close match,” Jodar said. “Casper, I think, played the important points in the first set better than me. I couldn’t win the break points because of his serve, so I knew I wanted to come back again. It was very tough, so I had to give my best level today to win this match.”
With his two-hour, 20-minute victory, Jodar also boosted his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals in his first full season on the ATP Tour. The Spaniard has jumped above Novak Djokovic and Alex de Minaur into ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin — with second-placed Jannik Sinner shutting down his season due to injury, ninth in the Live Race is effectively eighth, which is the final qualifying position for the season finale.
Jodar will next take on Daniil Medvedev — the man just above him in the Live Race — or Tommy Paul for a spot in the Shanghai championship match. With his countryman Alejandro Davidovich Fokina also into the last four, Jodar’s victory marks just the fifth time since 2014 that multiple Spaniards have reached the semi-finals at the same Masters 1000 event.
Jodar is now 42-16, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, in his remarkable debut season. The 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor has now reached five tour-level semi-finals this year, including two at Masters 1000 events (Montreal and Shanghai).
“I’m super happy how the season is going,” Jodar said. “Very high level, but still a lot of things to improve, which is very good because that means I can become a better player in the future. I just want more things. It’s the first year on Tour and there are still a few tournaments, so I will try to give my best in the matches I have left this season.”
The Spaniard reaching the last four in China had appeared uncertain midway through his quarter-final with Ruud: The Norwegian broke in the 10th game to clinch the opening set, and then reclaimed an early break to level the second set at 2-2. Yet Jodar gradually began to dictate proceedings in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head encounter, deploying his huge forehand to particularly devastating effect.
After breaking for 5-4 and then serving out the second set to love, Jodar broke Ruud’s serve three times in the decider to complete an impressive victory against the World No. 24. The #NextGenATP star is now 10-2 against Top-30 opponents since the start of July.
