Rafael Jodar beat Casper Ruud 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 20 minutes on Friday to reach the Shanghai Masters semi-finals. The 20-year-old Spaniard became the event’s youngest semi-finalist and won from a set down for the fourth match running.
Shanghai, China: Rafael Jodar has spent the week in Shanghai living on the edge, and on Friday he turned the habit into a place in the tournament’s record book. Trailing again after the opening set, the Spaniard refused to flinch, dismantled Casper Ruud’s serve over the next two sets and claimed a spot in the last four on his first visit to the event.
Ruud takes the opener
Ruud, the 20th seed, set the early terms. He broke Jodar in the tenth game to take the first set 6-4, putting the Spaniard in a hole he had already climbed out of in each of his previous three matches. Afterwards Jodar was matter-of-fact: Ruud had simply played the important points in that set better than he had.
The Norwegian had earned his place in the quarter-final when Felix Auger-Aliassime retired injured in the fourth round, and he looked sharp for one set.
The break that changed the match
The second set turned late. Jodar broke for 5-4 and then served it out to love, a hold that flipped the tempo of the contest. In the decider he broke Ruud three more times. In all, he converted five breaks across the final two sets, and the match ended after two hours and 20 minutes.
It is the fourth time this week that Jodar has come back from a set down, following wins over Botic van de Zandschulp in the previous round and two opponents in the rounds before that.
Youngest in Shanghai history
At 20, Jodar is the youngest semi-finalist the Shanghai Masters has seen. The result is his 42nd win against 16 defeats in his first full season on tour, and his fifth tour-level semi-final of 2026, the second at Masters 1000 level after Montreal in August. Since July he is 10-2 against opponents ranked in the top 30; Ruud is world No. 24.
The week also leaves Spain with two men in the last four. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina advanced on Thursday when Arthur Gea retired, and it is only the fifth time since 2014 that two Spaniards have reached the semi-finals of the same Masters 1000 event.
Turin comes into view
The run matters beyond the trophy. Jodar moved up to ninth in the live ATP Race to Turin, which is effectively eighth after Jannik Sinner ended his 2026 season with a knee injury. Eighth place is the last qualifying spot for the Nitto ATP Finals, and a debut appearance there is now squarely within reach.
Saturday’s semi-final
Jodar will face the winner of the Daniil Medvedev and Tommy Paul quarter-final on Saturday. Medvedev reached that stage by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas without facing a break point. In the other semi-final, top seed Alexander Zverev meets Davidovich Fokina.
Result: Rafael Jodar (ESP, 12) bt Casper Ruud (NOR, 20) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in 2h 20m
Event: Rolex Shanghai Masters (ATP Masters 1000), quarter-final, Friday 16 October 2026
Next: Semi-final against Daniil Medvedev or Tommy Paul on Saturday 17 October
