19-year-old will face Tien in R4 in Rome

Rafael Jodar shut out the noise of a partisan Italian crowd on Sunday night at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, where he produced another composed finish to continue his rapid rise on clay.

The fast-rising 19-year-old held off Italian wild card Matteo Arnaldi 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the fourth round of the ATP Masters 1000 event on debut. After Arnaldi fought back to level the match, Jodar regrouped impressively from 1-3 down in the deciding set, reeling off five straight games to seal the victory in style.

“I’m very happy. It’s never easy to play an Italian here in Rome,” Jodar said. “I tried to play my tennis. Matteo played very well in the second and third sets, so I just tried to be there every point and accept whatever happened during the match.”

With his two-hour victory, Jodar improved to 14-2 on clay in 2026, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, highlighted by his maiden ATP Tour title in Marrakech, followed by a semi-final run in Barcelona and a quarter-final showing in Madrid. Competing as a seeded player on the ATP Tour for the first time this week, Jodar will next face reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Learner Tien.

Although Arnaldi arrived in Rome without a tour-level win this season, the Italian won an ATP Challenger event in Cagliari the week prior and upset sixth seed Alex de Minaur in the second round.

In his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Jodar, however, Arnaldi looked poised to complete the comeback after surging ahead early in the third set, but could not halt the Spaniard’s late charge inside Campo Centrale.

After racing through a dominant opening set, Jodar was gradually forced onto the back foot while Arnaldi raised his level with a series of stunning defensive recoveries. But the Spaniard once again showed the composure and resilience that have defined his recent breakthrough, staying calm amid the raucous atmosphere before producing a clinical finish down the stretch.

Earlier in the day, Tien rallied past Alexander Bublik 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to earn back-to-back ATP Tour wins for the first time since his run to the Indian Wells quarter-finals in March. The 20-year-old, now up to No. 19 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, is the youngest American man to reach the fourth round in Rome since Andy Roddick in 2002.