Shanghai, Oct 14: Rafael Jodar battled back from a set down for the third consecutive match to reach the quarter-finals at the Shanghai Masters, a penultimate ATP Masters 1000 event of the season.
The 20-year-old defeated Botic van de Zandschulp 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and 30 minutes to become the second-youngest Shanghai quarter-finalist.
Jakub Mensik is the youngest quarterfinalist in the history of the Shanghai Masters, when he reached his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal at the 2024 Shanghai Masters at age 19.
Van de Zandschulp made a solid start, 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, ATP Tour reports.
The win strengthened Jodar's bid to qualify for the ATP Finals. The 20-year-old, competing in his first full season on the ATP Tour, improved to 41-16 for the year, according to the ATP Win/Loss Index, and currently sits 11th in the ATP Live Race To Turin, just 131 points behind 10th-placed Novak Djokovic, chasing a place at the prestigious season-ending event for the first time.
"I think I was doing the right things, but he played important points in the tie-break better than me," Jodar said after 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."
The next test for Jodar Masters 1000 event will be a quarter-final meeting with fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or Casper Ruud.
Later in the day, the 2026 revivals of Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas collide in the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters.
Medvedev, the 2019 champion, was World No. 18 when he arrived in Shanghai last year. A run to the semi-finals and 43 match wins this year have returned the 2021 US Open champion to No. 6 and put him in strong contention to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals.
Tsitsipas, the former World No. 3, was No. 88 in June after battling back problems and poor form. But after defeating Taylor Fritz in the third round to claim his 34th win of the year, the former Roland Garros finalist is back inside the Top 40. He claimed his 400th career victory in the second round against Luciano Darderi.
--IANS