Jodar on verge of smashing record for fastest rise to top 10 — SkimNews
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- Rafael Jodar defeated Arthur Fils 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 to reach the Canadian Open semi-final in Montreal, climbing to 11th in the live ATP rankings at age 19.
- A win over Brandon Nakashima in the semi-final would push Jodar into the top 10 — unless Ben Shelton also reaches the final, in which case Jodar would need to beat the American to crack the top 10.
- Boris Becker's men's record of 210 days from the top 100 to the top 10 (set in 1985 at age 18) would fall: Jodar would shatter it in 140 days.
- Jodar's pace eclipses 21st-century greats — Carlos Alcaraz took 336 days, Novak Djokovic 623, Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner 735, and Roger Federer 973.
- He is the first teenager to reach a Montreal quarter-final since Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2018 and the first player born in 2006 or later to make a Masters 1000 semi-final.
- Jodar has one tour title (Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech), credits Nadal as his childhood idol, and his aggressive topspin-heavy baseline game draws comparisons to world No. 1 Sinner rather than to Alcaraz.
Why it matters: With both Sinner and Alcaraz sidelined by injury, a teenager in his debut professional season could break a 40-year-old Becker benchmark and immediately announce himself as the tour's next long-term threat — bookmakers have already placed him among the top eight favorites for the US Open in New York next month.
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