Rafael Jodar was denied a maiden ATP Masters 1000 title after losing to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the Shanghai Masters final on Sunday.
In the biggest match of his career thus far, with tennis legend Roger Federer watching on in the stands, the 20-year-old Spaniard was beaten by his compatriot 1-6, 7-5, 6-4. Davidovich Fokina claimed his first ATP Masters 1000 crown and third tour-level title of the season, following triumphant campaigns in Mallorca and Chengdu.
Despite the loss, Jodar has closed in on a spot in the ATP Finals with his run in Shanghai, having extended his lead over Alex de Minaur and Novak Djokovic in the race to Turin, where the year-end tournament is held.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s message to Rafael Jodar
In his runner-up speech after losing the final in Shanghai, Jodar said: “First of all, I want to congratulate Alejandro and his team for the work they’ve been doing these past months and for this title. It’s great, I’m very happy for you, and a Spanish player won this title. Finally, I want to thank my dad, who is here with me. Thank you.”
Davidovich Fokina then took to the microphone to send a message to Jodar. The 27-year-old said: “First of all, I want to congratulate Rafa. You are 20 years old man; you have a huge future, and you’re gonna be here many times. You are a very great player, a very great person, so many congratulations because what you are achieving in the first year, it’s unbelievable.
“And to your father over there, what are you doing, I can’t describe it, so many congrats and for sure you’re gonna be here at some point. I cannot describe these kind of moments, how to say to my team what we achieved, during this year it was not an easy one, many injuries, but we kept believing and you were believing in me all year.”
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Davidovich Fokina was sidelined for all of the North American hard court swing due to injury, and has since won the Chengdu Open and the Shanghai Masters in his return.
“We just kept pushing,” said Davidovich Fokina to his team. “You knew that I have this potential and you gave it to me, this kind of mindset, so I want to say thanks to my team, to all my family, to my wife, just because they believe in me every day that I can be one of the best players in the world, and I’m very grateful for what they are doing for me, so many thanks to them.”
Davidovich Fokina put together an impressive run at the Shanghai Masters, during which he clinched a victory over top seed and soon-to-be-crowned year-end world number one Alexander Zverev.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s rise up the rankings after Shanghai
By winning the Shanghai Masters title, Davidovich Fokina will rise 13 places in the ATP rankings to a career-high of 13th in the world. He has leapfrogged the likes of Jakub Mensik, Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz, and is now just under 400 points adrift of entering the top ten.
Jodar, on the other hand, will rise two spots to world number 11 and is only 101 points behind 10th-placed Arthur Fils. Jodar would have entered the top ten for the first time in his career had he beaten Davidovich Fokina in the Shanghai final.
There are now three Spaniards ranked inside the top 15, with Carlos Alcaraz still third in the world, despite being sidelined for four months due to a wrist injury.
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