Jódar, on the assault on the top-10 and the ATP Finals after going from world number 911 to 13th in 18 months

After living another new experience winning with Europe the Laver Cup in London, Rafa Jodar begins the final stretch of the season well positioned to enter the most select tennis elite for the first time, the world top-10 and the ATP Finalsthe tournament that will bring together Turin (November 15-22) to the eight best of the year with the title of ‘master’ at stake.

The Madrid native, the great revelation of 2026 since January began at world number 165, now occupies 13th place in the ranking and is already ninth in the Race to Turinthe current year’s classification, so that the assault on these objectives is totally legal and feasible.

Jódar is 361 points away Daniil Medvedeveighth in the Race, already 491 behind Alex De Minaur10th in the world ranking, with enough tournaments and points ahead to achieve both goals, although he himself does not want to get overwhelmed.

“The main thing is to finish the year well. It has been a great year, things have gone very well for me. I am very grateful for the opportunities I have had and the goal is to finish in the best way. If I don’t manage to get into the top-10, I will try to do my best and think about next year,” he said. Rafa in London, start of the indoor tennis season.

In principle, before Turin, Jódar plans to play four tournaments before Turin Masterswith 3,000 points at stake, Tokyo (500 for the champion, September 30-October 6), Shanghai (1,000, October 7-18), Basel (500, October 26-November 1) and Paris (1,000), November 2-8.

“I try not to be impatient. I am aware that this is my first year, that I have only been on the circuit for eight months and I still have tournaments to discover. I am a perfectionist and I want the results to come, but at the same time I must be aware and have perspective of how much I have advanced in the last year. I’m in a position where I can compete against the best players in the world. “I am very grateful and very happy for it,” says the Spaniard.

“My family always tells me to be humble, to work hard every day and that there is still a lot to improve in my game. I think it’s good to have that mentality, to know that I can continue to improve,” he says. Jodar20 years old

Just a year and a half ago, in April 2025, Jódar was ranked world number 911, but he already made a tremendous leap in 2025 after his time in university tennis in USA and the challenger circuit, especially with three titles that lifted him to 168th place at the end of the year. In 2026, his first year on the ATP tour, Rafa is also experiencing a dizzying rise.

After collecting good results on hard courts, on March 30 he rose to number 89 and that same week he debuted his top-100 status, winning his first ATP title in Marrakesh. The ‘Fuckmania’ was already underway and its semi-finals in the Gothic They catapulted him to number 42, that is, it took only 21 days from the top-100 to the top-50.

Rooms in Madrid, Rome and Roland Garrosending in Washington or semi-finals in the Canadian Masters 1,000 They already placed him at the gates of the world top-10 (11th is his best ranking to date), his next frontier.