ATP Tour

Inside Jodar’s incredible rise: Could Turin be next?

On 15 November 2025, Rafael Jodar was celebrating a recent victory at an ATP Challenger event in Charlottesville and was just a month away from making his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals.

Fast forward to 15 November 2026, and the 20-year-old could be walking out in front of a capacity crowd at the Inalpi Arena in Turin, capping one of the most remarkable breakout seasons in ATP Tour history.

With two weeks to go until the Nitto ATP Finals (15-22 November) and just one week remaining in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, which concludes at the Rolex Paris Masters, Jodar currently sits ninth. Should the Spaniard qualify for the prestigious year-end event, he would join Stefanos Tsitsipas and Carlos Alcaraz as just the third player to compete at the Nitto ATP Finals the year after playing at the 20-and-under event.

“I think the [Finals] is a great tournament because you have the best players and they compete against each other,” Jodar recently told ATPTour.com. “The format is different with group stage. I think it is a very cool event and hopefully I can be part of it.”

A former US Open Boys' singles champion and University of Virginia star, Jodar began the year outside the Top 100 in the PIF ATP Rankings. However, the Spaniard wasted little time making his mark on the biggest stage. After earning main-draw match wins at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami, Jodar became just the sixth Spanish man in the Open Era to win a tour-level title before turning 20, storming to the trophy at the ATP 250 event in Marrakech in a week he will never forget.

“Winning in Marrakech was very special for me," Jodar said. "The week went very well for me and winning my first ATP title meant a lot to me. Especially when it was my first ever tournament on clay in the ATP, so I think the clay season went very well. I could win a lot of matches. The hard-court swing was [good] too.

“It has been a great year. I am very happy with how the season is going for me and all the tournaments I have been able to discover. I have improved a lot and played against many top players and overall I have improved my level a lot, which was the main goal when I started the season."

Jodar has troubled opponents throughout the season with his bruising baseline striking off both wings and a never-say-die attitude. Those qualities carried him to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros before he continued his rise on the North American hard courts, reaching the final in Washington and the semi-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal.

The 20-year-old then made another statement in Shanghai, where he reached his first Masters 1000 final before falling short against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

For many young players, adapting to the demands of life on the Tour takes time. Jodar, however, has looked remarkably at home. So what has been behind his rapid adjustment?

“I think my mindset,” Jodar said. “I have been able to go match by match, tournament by tournament. I think that is the most important thing on my first year on Tour. I was playing against the best players in the world, so was going to be very difficult. But my mindset of not giving up and giving everything in every match has helped me be in this situation.

“I am aware I have had a great year but if you want to be a great tennis player, you have to be on Tour for many years, so that is my goal, to be every year a little bit better.”

Another important presence in Jodar’s rise has been his father, Rafael Jodar Sr., who has been a constant figure in the Spaniard’s player box for much of the season.

“It is great,” Jodar said when asked about the relationship. “I appreciate that with him being with me for all the tournaments and that he is helping me a lot this year. It has been great to see him in the box and I have always had a good relationship with him since I was very young. He tries to give me the best advice he can. He tells me to be humble and not think you are someone who you are really not.”

Of course, even a breakthrough season has its bumps in the road. Jodar suffered back-to-back first-round defeats at the US Open and the ATP 500 event in Tokyo, but responded with a stunning run in Shanghai to reignite his push for Turin. Jodar, who has also recorded Top-10 wins against Alex de Minaur and Daniil Medvedev this year, will now aim for one big final push at the Rolex Paris Masters to seal his place at the Nitto ATP Finals.

“In the situation I am in now I will try, but everyone here is very competitive and will give their best to reach their goal," Jodar said last month on his aims to qualify for Turin. "It is difficult to do it in my first year, but I least have some perspective of what it could be to do it in the next years. It is good to be in this situation to have a feeling of what I could do in future seasons.”