Jodar Continues His Breakthrough Season With Rome Quarterfinal Berth

Rafael Jodar
Rafael Jodar (photo: Giampiero Sposito /FITP)

ROME/WASHINGTON, May 12, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

The last time there was an Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarterfinalist as young as Rafael Jodar, the 19-year-old Spaniard wasn’t even born. As it turns out, the year was 2005 and it was another Rafa from Spain – Rafael Nadal – who reached the Rome last eight in 2005. In fact, Nadal went on to win his first Rome title 21 years ago with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6) victory over Guillermo Coria.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Madrid native met 20-year-old Learner Tien of the United States in a rematch of their Next Gen ATP Finals match from last December, in which Jodar saved four match points for his first ATP Tour win. This time, Jodar became the first teenager to reach the quarterfinals of multiple ATP Masters 1000 events in a season since Novak Djokovic in 2007 with his impressive 6-1, 6-4 victory. 

The No. 32 seed Jodar wrapped up his 15th victory of the season on clay – tying him with Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina for most on the ATP Tour – and it was his 20th win overall.

Jodar, who is through to his fourth tour-level quarterfinal of his nascent career, is the first teenager to reach a Rome quarterfinal since Djokovic in 2007. His victory pushed him ahead of another 19-year-old star, Joao Fonseca of Brazil, to become the highest-ranked teenager in the PIF ATP Rankings.

After winning his first ATP Tour title in Marrakech last month, then following it up with a semifinal finish at Barcelona and a quarterfinal result in Madrid, Jodar is the first teenager since Djokovic in 2007 to reach the quarterfinals in multiple ATP Masters 1000 events in a season.

“I am super happy,” Jodar said during his on-court interview. “I just try to play the matches and be focused on what I have to do. I am super happy with how I handled the important moments in this match.”

Against the 21st-ranked Tien, who was the last of 11 players from the United States remaining who started the tournament last week, Jodar won 70 percent (23 of 33) first-serve points, hit 10 winners, made 19 unforced errors and converted four of eight break points. He outpointed Tien 60-42.

Later, during his news conference, Jodar was asked if he’s been pleased with his performances in Rome, which has included victories over Nuno Borges of Portugal, wild card Matteo Arnaldi of Italy and Tien.

“Yeah, great matches. All the players are very good here so you have to play a high level if you want to get those wins,” said the 34th-ranked Jodar, who has moved up to No. 29 in the PIF ATP Rankings, a career-best ranking.  “I just try to give my best level.

“Today’s match was a very tough one. Learner is a tough opponent. He always plays well in these conditions. I played very well important points and I’m happy to get the win.”

Darderi saves four match points, stuns Zverev

Next, Jodar will face No. 18 seed Luciano Darderi of Italy, who saved four match points during a 22-point second-set tie-break and went on to upset World No. 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany, 1-6, 7-6 (10), 6-0, in two hours and 24 minutes on BNP Paribas Arena for the biggest win of his career – and a first-time advancement to the quarterfinals stage of an ATP Masters 1000.

The two-time Rome champion was denied a seventh quarterfinal at Foro Italico after the World No. 20 Darderi regrouped in the final set after pulling out the second set in a lengthy tiebreaker. The 24-year-old Italian won all but one of his first-serve points and saved the only break point he faced during the decisive set. Overall, Darderi hit 26 winners to offset 32 unforced errors, converted five of 10 break points and outpointed Zverev 87-85.

“It was a very tough match,” Darderi said on court during an interview with ATP Media. “At the start I was not feeling very good physically. At 3-5 in the second set, I was done. I think I had a small chance in the second set when I held for 4-5 and then the tie-break was a lot of pressure for him and me. It is not easy to play here because I am a bit nervous, but it was really nice. It was a good fight mentally from me.

“I won because of the crowd. You can’t give up here. The crowd helped me a lot and it is a dream to be in the quarterfinals. It is the tournament of my life.”

Meanwhile, Zverev, whose win-loss record this season dropped to 28-9, took his loss to Darderi in stride. Afterward, during his news conference he said: “Maybe this is a bit of a blessing in a bad moment for me. I can rest and recharge and be 100 percent ready for the French Open. I can take a couple of days off. I have almost two weeks now until my next match, so yeah. I hope I can use that time.”

Sinner’s 26th straight win ends Pellegrino’s dream run

It’s been 50 years since an Italian man has won an Italian Open singles title in Rome. The last champion was Adriano Panatta in 1976. Now, with the quarterfinal-round line-ups almost set, World No. 1 Jannik Sinner is one of only two Italians left in the draw – the other is World No. 20 Luciano Darderi – out of 13 who started the tournament last week.

On Tuesday afternoon, the top-seeded Sinner eliminated 155th-ranked Italian qualifier Andrea Pellegrino, 6-2, 6-3, in one hour and 29 minutes on Campo Centrale, to become the first player since Tomas Berdych in 2015 to reach the quarterfinals in each of the first five ATP Masters 1000 events of the season.

The victory was the 26th in a row for Sinner, which equals his biggest career winning streak (26 set in 2024-25), and it was also the 24-year-old Italian’s 31st-consecutive ATP Masters 1000 triumph, which equals the record set by Novak Djokovic. Sinner is also the second Italian man to reach three Rome quarterfinals in the Open Era, after Panatta (5).

Sinner won his fourth-round match over Pellegrino efficiently. He garnered 79 percent (23 of 29) of his first-serve points; saved the only break point he faced from Pellegrino, which came during his second service game; and he converted four of eight break-point opportunities. Sinner outpointed his opponent 63-45 to move to within two wins of returning to the Rome title match for the second-straight year.

Meanwhile, the 29-year-old Pellegrino, who was competing in the main draw of an ATP Masters 1000 for the first time, will rise in next week’s PIF ATP Rankings to a career-high of No. 123.

During a post-match news conference with Italian media, Pellegrino praised Sinner’s mental and physical toughness.

“Matches against Jannik are very physical because he doesn’t give you anything for free and plays well from both sides of the court,” Pellegrino said, translated from Italian. “He’s a complete player, serves impressively in the big moments, and that makes all the difference. Sinner’s mentality is what stands out for most.  People don’t realize how tough it is to compete in tennis, and even in those moments, he manages to close out matches like no one else.”

Sinner has beaten Pellegrino twice in two career meetings, the first one seven years ago at an ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour event in Italy in 2019 that was also on clay. With his win on Tuesday, Sinner maintained his perfect record against fellow Italians (19-0).

“I am very happy with the outcome,” Sinner said during his on-court interview with ATP Media. “I am very happy for him. We played seven years ago in a smaller court and it is nice. From an Italian point of view, it is amazing there are so many Italians in the round of 16. It was a good match for both of us.”

Later, during his post-match news conference, Sinner gave props to Pellegrino.

“He played some really good level. I wish him only the best for the rest of the season,” he said. “Hopefully this can give him a really good confidence boost for the rest of the season and also for his career.”

After day off, Sinner will face No. 12 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia, in the quarterfinals round on Thursday. The World 14 Rublev rallied to beat 117th-ranked qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, in two hours and 13 minutes on BNP Paribas Arena. It was his fifth win over the Georgian in eight career meetings.

Rublev struck 27 winners – 13 of them aces – and outpointed Basilashvili 104-103 to achieve to his second Rome quarterfinal berth – and first one since 2021.

Around the Foro Italico

• World No. 25 Casper Ruud of Norway garnered his first Top 10 win on clay in more than a year with his 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 10 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in 77 minutes on Campo Centrale to advance to the quarterfinal round – his fifth Rome quarterfinal in seven appearances at the event and his 16th ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal overall, 10th on clay.

Not since defeating No. 4 Taylor Fritz, No. 10 Daniil Medvedev and No. 6 Jack Draper en route to winning the ATP Masters 1000 Madrid title last year had Ruud beaten a Top-10 foe on clay.

Ruud hit 17 winners, saved both break points he faced and broke Musetti’s serve four times in 10 tries. He outpointed his opponent, 63-43.

Musetti, who aimed to become the first Italian man to reach the Rome quarterfinals in back-to-back years since Omar Camporese in 1989-90, was hampered by an injured left thigh, which was heavily taped and slowed his ability to move freely about the court. Down to No. 11 on the PIF ATP Live Rankings, Musetti will drop outside the Top 10 next week for the first time since his Top 10 debut on May 5 last year.

• Next, Ruud will face No. 13 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia, who beat 79th-ranked qualifier Dino Prizmic of Croatia, 6-1, 7-6 (2), in an hour and 57 minutes on Supertennis Arena.

The World No. 15 Khachanov hit 20 winners, saved eight of nine break points he faced and took advantage of 37 unforced errors by Prizmic, who earlier in tournament eliminated six-time Rome champion Novak Djokovic.

The Russian No. 3, who has strung together three consecutive wins for the first time since August 2025, is safely through to his 11th ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal – his first since his run to the Toronto final last year and first time in Rome.

• Twenty-year-old Spaniard Martin Landaluce became the fourth lucky loser to reach the men’s singles quarterfinal in Rome after he defeated No. 67 Hamad Medjedovic of Serbia, 7-5, 6-4, in one hour and 47 minutes on Pietrangeli Tuesday evening.

The 94th-ranked Landaluce entered the draw as a lucky loser after No. 14 seed Valentin Vacherot of Monaco withdrew due to injury. He defeated Marin Cilic of Croatia and Mattia Bellucci for his first ATP Tour wins on clay before making it three wins on the red-brick surface with his triumph over Medjedovic, the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals champion, which advanced him to his second ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal this season following his earlier success at the Miami Open. He’s the first man born in 2006 or later to reach ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinals on both clay and hard courts.

Against Medjedovic, Landaluce hit 22 winners and converted three of eight break points. He took advantage of 32 unforced errors by his opponent and outpointed Medjedovic 76-65.

• In doubles, No. 2 seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina advanced to the quarterfinal round with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Robert Galloway of the United States and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico. Also, defending champions and No. 5 seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Hugo Nys of Monaco and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France.

Meanwhile, No. 6 seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz of Germany were upset by Austrians Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler, 7-6 (10), 7-6 (4), and No. 8 seeds Francisco Cabral of Portugal and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain lost to French duo Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul, 7-5, 6-3.

Tuesday’s Italian Open results

Wednesday’s Italian Open order of play

By the numbers

This year marks the third time in the Open Era that four Italians have reached the round of 16 at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Sinner, Musetti, Darderi, Pellegrino). Previously, it’s happened in 1979 (Barazzutti, Bertolucci, Ocleppo, A. Panatta) and 2020 (Berrettini, Musetti, Sinner, Travaglia).

“Quotable …”

“Yeah, very, very excited to be in a quarterfinal again. Yeah, as I said before, try to approach every match with the best mentality possible because I’m aware that everyone here plays very well. You have to play very well. You have to be consistent. You have to have a tough mentality to get the wins in all the tournaments.”

– No. 32 seed Rafael Jodar of Spain, during his post-match news conference, after defeating No. 19 seed Learner Tien.

 

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