ATP Tour

Jodar rallies past Van de Zandschulp in Shanghai, continues Turin qualification bid

Rafael Jodar’s resilience shone once again Wednesday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where the 20-year-old battled from a set down for the third consecutive match to reach the quarter-finals at the penultimate ATP Masters 1000 event of the season.

The Spaniard overcame Botic van de Zandschulp 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and 30 minutes, digging deep once again to secure a comeback win in Shanghai: The 12th-seeded Jodar also rallied to defeat Thiago Agustin Tirante in the second round and Jiri Lehecka in the third round.

Van de Zandschulp made a solid start to the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head series clash, saving two break points in the opening set before delivering a watertight display in the tie-break to take the lead. Jodar, however, fought back, gradually gaining momentum before finding a way through to book his place in the quarter-finals on his Shanghai debut.

"I think I was doing the right things, but he played important points in the tie-break better than me," Jodar said following his win. "That's why he won the first set. I had just two break points. In the second set, I started up a break that helped me get [further] into the set in a better shape. Very happy with how the match went today."

With the hard-fought victory, Jodar strengthened his bid to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. The 20-year-old, competing in his first full season on the ATP Tour, is now 41-16 for the year, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. He currently sits 11th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, just 131 points behind 10th-placed Novak Djokovic, in his bid for a place at the prestigious season-ending event.

The next test for Jodar at the Chinese Masters 1000 event will be a quarter-final meeting with fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or Casper Ruud.