Rafael Jódar
Spanish tennis player (born 2006)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rafael Jódar Camacho (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxoðaɾ kaˈmat͡ʃo]) (born 17 September 2006) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 23 achieved on 8 June 2026 and a doubles ranking of No. 344 achieved on 2 March 2026. He is currently the No. 3 Spanish player in men's singles.[2]
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SpainJódar at the 2026 French Open | |
| Country (sports) | Spain |
|---|---|
| Residence | Madrid, Spain |
| Born | 17 September 2006 Madrid, Spain |
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Turned pro | 2025 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| College | University of Virginia[1] |
| Coach | Rafael Jódar (father) Brian Rasmussen (UVA Assistant Coach) |
| Prize money | US $1,894,783 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 26–11 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 1 |
| Highest ranking | No. 23 (8 June 2026) |
| Current ranking | No. 23 (8 June 2026) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 2R (2026) |
| French Open | QF (2026) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 1–1 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 344 (2 March 2026) |
| Current ranking | No. 358 (8 June 2026) |
| Last updated on: 8 June 2026. | |
Jódar has won one ATP Tour singles title at the 2026 Grand Prix Hassan II.
Early life
Jódar was born on 17 September 2006 in Madrid, Spain. On his paternal side, Jódar's family is originally from Baeza.[3][4] Contrary to popular belief, he was not named after Rafael Nadal; his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather all share the name "Rafael."[5] He started taking tennis lessons in his early childhood, inspired by his idol Nadal.[6]
College
Jódar attended the University of Virginia in 2024, before announcing his decision to pursue tennis full-time on 31 December 2025.[7][8][9] He had 19 wins and just 3 losses, reaching the NCAA number four singles ranking. He was selected for the ATP Next Gen Accelerator, giving him wildcard spots on the Challenger Tour.[10]
Junior career
In June 2024, he won the prestigious U18 grass tournament in Roehampton, England, prior to a run at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships that saw him become the last Spaniard in the main draw competition and included a straight sets victory over fourth seed Tomasz Berkieta.[11] He lost in the quarterfinals to Naoya Honda.[12] He also reached the quarterfinals of the doubles category, with compatriot Andrés Santamarta Roig, where they lost to Czech pair Jan Kumstát and Jan Klimas.[citation needed]
In September, he was crowned champion in the boys' singles category at the 2024 US Open, with impressive victories over second seed Kaylan Bigun in the quarterfinal and third seed Rei Sakamoto in the semifinal.[13][14] He defeated first seed Nicolai Budkov Kjaer in the final.[15][16]
Later that season, Jódar qualified for the 2024 ITF Junior Finals, where he was a runner-up. In the final, he lost to Mees Röttgering in straight sets.[17]
Jódar had good results on the ITF junior circuit, maintaining a 93–18 singles win-loss record, and reached an ITF junior combined ranking of world No. 4 on 9 September 2024.[18]
Professional career
2025: Challenger titles, NextGen Finals
In August, Jódar won his maiden ATP Challenger title at the Crete Challenger III, Greece, as an alternate, defeating sixth seed Dan Added in the final.[19] The two players faced again the following week at the Crete Challenger IV, this time Added defeating Jódar in the semifinal.[6]
Ranked No. 283, Jódar won his second title at the 2025 Lincoln Challenger, United States, defeating three seeds en route: Top seed Brandon Holt, fourth seed Patrick Kypson and eight seed Martin Damm Jr., and moved to ninth position in the NextGen race on 20 October 2025.[20][21][22][23]
Jódar won his third straight Challenger title at the Jonathan Fried Pro Challenger in Charlottesville, and became the third Spanish teenager to win at least three Challenger titles, joining Carlos Alcaraz and Nicolas Almagro. He reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 166 on 3 November 2025[24] and moved back to ninth position in the ATP Live Race To Jeddah.[25][26] In November, he officially qualified for the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals.[27][28] In his opening match, he saved four match points to secure a victory against top seed and eventual champion Learner Tien.[29] He also defeated compatriot and friend Martín Landaluce at the event.[30] Having begun 2025 ranked No. 895 in singles, Jódar climbed more than 700 spots in the rankings across that season.[31]
In December 2025, Jódar announced that he was turning professional full time.[9]
2026: First ATP title, French Open Quarter-Final
In January, Jódar made his Australian Open debut as a qualifier,[32] securing a maiden main draw win against fellow qualifier Rei Sakamoto in the first round.[33]
Jódar made his main-draw ATP 1000 debut at the 2026 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, after receiving a wildcard.[34] At the 2026 Miami Open after qualifying for the main draw, Jódar defeated Yannick Hanfmann and Aleksandar Vukic recording his first wins at the Masters 1000-level, to reach the third round.[35][36] He fell to Tomás Martín Etcheverry but despite the loss Jódar reached the top 100 in the singles rankings on 30 March 2026.[37][38]
In April, Jódar earned his first ATP title at the Grand Prix Hassan II, Morocco, defeating the Argentinian Marco Trungelliti, rising to a career high world ranking of No. 57 on 6 April 2026.[39][40][41] Two weeks later he reached the top 50 in the singles ATP rankings on 20 April 2026,[42] following his first ATP 500 semifinal showing[43] as a wildcard,[44] at his home event, the 2026 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. The following week, he also made his debut at his home Masters, the 2026 Mutua Madrid Open, defeating Jesper de Jong in the first round.[45][46][47] In the second round he earned his first win over a top-ten player with a win over world number eight Alex de Minaur for the loss of only four games.[48] He then defeated João Fonseca to reach the quarter-final of a Masters for the first time in his career, where he lost to top-seed Jannik Sinner.[49] Following the tournament his ranking rose to a career high world no. 34.[50] The following week, he defeated Learner Tien to also reach the quarter-finals of the 2026 Italian Open, becoming the first teenager to reach that stage of the competition since Novak Djokovic in 2007 and the first teenager to reach that stage in Rome and Madrid in the same sesson since Rafael Nadal in 2005.[51] Jodar lost to home favourite Luciano Darderi in 3 sets in the quarter-final.[52] His singles ranking reached No. 29 on 18 May 2026.[53]
With his ranking up to world No. 29, Jódar was 27th seed at the 2026 French Open. On his main draw debut at the event, he dropped just five games in a straight sets win against American Aleksandar Kovacevic in the first round. It was the fewest games lost in a French Open debut since Novak Djokovic against Robby Ginepri in 2005.[54] In the second round he defeated James Duckworth before facing Alex Michelsen.[55] He reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal with a five set win against compatriot Pablo Carreño Busta, coming back from two sets down.[56] He then lost to Alexander Zverev in the quarter-final in straight sets.[57]
Performance timeline
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
Singles
Current through the 2026 French Open.
| Tournament | 2025 | 2026 | SR | W–L | Win% | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | |||||||||
| Australian Open | A | 2R | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50% | ||||
| French Open | A | QF | 0 / 1 | 4–1 | 80% | ||||
| Wimbledon | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |||||
| US Open | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |||||
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 5–2 | 0 / 2 | 5–2 | 71% | ||||
| ATP 1000 tournaments | |||||||||
| Indian Wells Open | A | 1R | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% | ||||
| Miami Open | A | 3R | 0 / 1 | 2–1 | 67% | ||||
| Monte-Carlo Masters | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||
| Madrid Open | A | QF | 0 / 1 | 4–1 | 80% | ||||
| Italian Open | A | QF | 0 / 1 | 3–1 | 75% | ||||
| Canadian Open | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |||||
| Cincinnati Open | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |||||
| Shanghai Masters | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |||||
| Paris Masters | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |||||
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 9–4 | 0 / 4 | 9–4 | 69% | ||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||
| Tournaments | 0 | 11 | Career total: 11 | ||||||
| Titles | 0 | 1 | Career total: 1 | ||||||
| Finals | 0 | 1 | Career total: 1 | ||||||
| Hard win–loss | 2–1 | 5–6 | 0 / 6 | 7–7 | 50% | ||||
| Clay win–loss | 0–0 | 19–4 | 1 / 5 | 19–4 | 83% | ||||
| Grass win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | ||||
| Overall win–loss | 2–1 | 24–10 | 1 / 11 | 26–11 | 70% | ||||
| Win % | 67% | 71% | 70% | ||||||
| Year-end ranking[a][b] | 168 | $1,894,783 | |||||||
ATP Tour finals
Singles: 1 (title)
|
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Apr 2026 | Grand Prix Hassan II, Morocco | ATP 250 | Clay |  Marco Trungelliti |
6–3, 6–2 |
ATP Challenger Tour finals
Singles: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up)
| Finals by surface |
|---|
| Hard (3–1) |
| Clay (–) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Aug 2025 | Crete Challenger III, Greece | Hard |  Dan Added |
6–4, 6–2 |
| Win | 2–0 | Oct 2025 | Lincoln Challenger, US | Hard (i) |  Martin Damm Jr. |
6–7(3–7), 6–3, 6–3 |
| Win | 3–0 | Oct 2025 | Charlottesville Men's Challenger, US | Hard (i) | Martin Damm Jr. |
6–3, 7–6(7–2) |
| Loss | 3–1 | Jan 2026 | Canberra Tennis International, Australia | Hard |  Alexander Blockx |
4–6, 4–6 |
ITF World Tennis Tour finals
Singles: 1 (runner-up)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Jul 2024 | M25 Dénia, Spain | Clay | Pol Martín Tiffon |
2–6, 6–4, 3–6 |
Junior Grand Slam finals
Singles: 1 (title)
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 2024 | US Open | Hard |  Nicolai Budkov Kjær |
2–6, 6–2, 7–6(10–1) |
Wins over top 10 players
- Jódar has a 1–3 record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.[58]
| Season | 2026 | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Wins | 1 | 1 |
| # | Player | Rk | Event | Surface | Rd | Score | Rk | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | ||||||||
| 1. |  Alex de Minaur |
8 | Madrid Open, Spain | Clay | 2R | 6–3, 6–1 | 42 | [59] |
- Key: (Rk) first use, opponent rank; (Rd) round; (Rk) 2nd use, player rank; (Ref) reference; (F) final; (SF) semifinal; (QF) quarterfinal; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage
- *As of 25 April 2026[update]
