Spaniard faces countryman Davidovich Fokina in the final

Rafael Jodar’s breakthrough season hit new heights on Saturday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where he overcame Daniil Medvedev to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 final.

The 20-year-old Spaniard has often delivered in the big moments in a standout 2026, and he did so again on Stadium Court, producing a clean-hitting display to sink World No. 6 Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 and capture his second Top-10 win.

"It was a very tough match," Jodar said in his on-court interview. "In the first set all the games were very close, break points for him and break points for me. I am super happy with how I handled the important moments in the first set and how I served and returned. Daniil is a very tough player. He played great today, so I had to play my best level to play him."

With his one-hour, 44-minute victory, Jodar has become the youngest finalist in tournament history, while he is the second-youngest man to record 20 Masters 1000 wins in a season after Rafael Nadal earned 28 victories aged 19 in 2005.

Jodar lifted his maiden tour-level trophy in Marrakech earlier this year, and then lost in the championship match at the ATP 500 event in Washington in August. Jodar will hope to improve to 2-1 in championship tour-level matches when he takes on Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final in what will be just the ninth all-Spanish Masters 1000 title match in series history.

Jodar has battled hard in Shanghai. The 20-year-old rallied from a set down in his first four matches to reach his second Masters 1000 semi-final (Montreal), but he only needed two sets against 2019 champion Medvedev, who was chasing his first Masters 1000 crown since Rome in 2023.

Jodar struck 22 winners to Medvedev’s 14 and was successful at pulling the former World No. 1 from corner to corner with his pinpoint accuracy and timing. After squandering a break advantage in the second set, the Spaniard regrouped impressively to reel off three of the final four games.

Jodar’s win has also boosted his Nitto ATP Finals qualification chances. The Spaniard is ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and in effectively the final qualification spot, with Jannik Sinner out for the rest of 2026 due to a knee injury. Jodar is 279 points clear of 10th-placed Alex de Minaur and if he wins the title on Sunday, can climb to sixth, above Medvedev. Separately, Jodar can also rise into the Top 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time with victory in the final. The Spaniard started the year outside the Top 100.

If Jodar competes in Turin in November, he will join Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas and become just the third player to play at the Nitto ATP Finals the year after taking to court at the Next Gen ATP Finals.

Did You Know?
Jodar is the first man born in 2006 or later to reach a Masters 1000 final.