Newest tennis kid on the block: The meteoric rise of Rafael Jodar

[SINGAPORE] His first name is Rafael, and he’s a tennis prodigy from Spain. Sounds somewhat familiar?

At the start of the year, not many in the sporting world would have known much about Rafael Jodar.

Today, however, the 20-year-old from Madrid is the talk of the town as he continues to take the game by storm in what has been an outstanding breakthrough year.

Jodar – whose nickname is Rafa (the same as his namesake Rafael Nadal) – began this season ranked outside the top 160. In the months since, he has soared to 11th place on the ATP rankings, just one rung above the 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.

The accolades have come at a furious pace. Jodar claimed his first ATP title in Marrakech in April, and last weekend he reached his first ATP 1000 final at the Rolex Shanghai Masters in China.

Jodar became the youngest Spaniard to make it to the championship match at Shanghai, and he also made history as he competed in the first all-Spanish final against his compatriot Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

The latter, who is seven years Jodar’s senior, paid his younger opponent a heavy compliment at the end of the gruelling three-set battle, when he said: “You are 20 years old but man, you have a future. And you are going to be here many times.”

Remarkable debut

This may come as a surprise to some, but Jodar was not named after Nadal. Interestingly, his father, paternal grandfather and great-grandfather all have the name “Rafael”.

Jodar was just four years old when he first picked up a tennis racket, and he grew up watching and idolising Nadal who was in the prime of his career at the time.

SEE ALSO

Rolex Oyster 100th anniversary: Inside the 2026 centennial celebration

The Rolex Oyster – 100 years of watchmaking history

From wildcard to champion: Dominant Leylah Fernandez wins Singapore tennis crown in style

Jodar started lessons and began playing at the Club de Tenis Chamartin – a prestigious, private sports club in Madrid – at the age of six.

He also enjoyed playing football as a child, and he did so until he was 12 before stopping altogether in order to focus entirely on tennis.

He’s still a big football fan and, unsurprisingly, he supports Spanish giants Real Madrid. His favourite player from that club is England midfielder Jude Bellingham.

As a junior, Jodar won an under-18 grass tournament in England in June 2024, and soon after that he competed in the Wimbledon Junior (boys’ singles) tournament where he reached the quarter-finals.

More success came in September that year when he won the boys’ singles category of the US Open, securing victories over the top three seeds along the way. 

Jodar made the decision to turn professional full-time on the final day of 2025. Since then, he has made his debut at all four Grand Slams, with the most memorable being at the French Open where he made it to the quarter-finals.

At the Shanghai Masters, his path to the final included impressive victories over former world No 2 Casper Ruud in the final eight and former world No 1 Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals.

Jodar’s runner-up finish means he’s now ninth on the leaderboard in the race to be in the top eight players to qualify for the ATP Tour finals in Turin. Effectively, however, he has already made it through to the season-ending championships given that the second-placed Sinner has said that he will not play again this year due to injury.

In elite company

As the Shanghai tournament was getting started, Jodar added another feather to his cap. 

On Oct 9, Rolex announced that he would be the brand’s newest ambassador – or “Testimonee”, as they prefer to describe them – and join a highly exclusive list that includes the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Roger Federer.

The Swiss watchmaker – the title sponsor of the Shanghai Masters since 2009 – is known for being extremely selective when it comes to appointing its ambassadors, and in Jodar, they have identified an up-and-coming athlete whom they see as sharing similar values such as longevity and excellence.

Writing on his Instagram page, Jodar said that he was “truly honoured” to be part of the Rolex family. “It is very special for me to share this journey with a name that carries such a unique legacy, built alongside generations of legends,” he added.

It’s staggering to think that Jodar was a college freshman just two years ago, and today he is gracing the world’s top tournaments and more than holding his own against the very best in the sport. 

With time clearly on his side, this talented young star has the potential to go far and few would bet against him winning several Grand Slams over the course of his career.