CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia sophomore Rafael Jódar has qualified to compete at the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, which will feature the world’s top 20-and-under singles players of the ATP Tour season. The Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF will take place over five days (dec. 17-21) at the King Abdullah Sports City.
Jódar will join Jakub Mensik, Learner Tien, Alexander Blockx, Dino Prizmic, Martin Landaluce, Nicolai Budkov Kjaer and Nishesh Basavareddy in the field. Former champions include Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
The 19-year-old Spaniard, No. 167 in the PIF ATP Rankings, enjoyed a late-season surge to book his spot in Jeddah.
Jódar was outside the ATP Top 900 in March but won three ATP Challenger Tour titles from August to November, including taking the Charlottesville Challenger title earlier this month. He is the third Spanish teenager to win at least three Challenger titles, joining 24-time tour-level titlist Carlos Alcaraz and former No. 9 Nicolas Almagro.
Jódar joined the Cavaliers in January and made an immediate impact on college tennis. The 2025 ITA National Freshman of the Year, he posted a 19-3 singles record, finishing the year as the highest-ranked player in the ACC at No. 4 in the ITA Singles Rankings. Jódar’s No. 4 ranking to finish the year is the highest end-of-season ranking for a Cavalier since Ryan Shane in 2015 and earned him ITA All-American honors. He was ranked No. 2 in the 2025-26 ITA Preseason Singles rankings.
Last season, he went 15-2 on the singles top court and went an undefeated 8-0 in conference play in the regular season. He recorded four wins over opponents ranked inside the top 10 of the ITA Singles Rankings. In total, he logged 15 singles wins over ranked opponents. After dropping his first match of the season, he won his next 17 completed singles matches. Additionally, Jódar was named the ACC Freshman of the Year and All-ACC first team in singles. He was also named ITA Atlantic Region Rookie of the Year.
In doubles, Jódar finished the season with a 14-4 record and ended the year on a nine-match win streak in completed matches. He posted a 10-2 record on doubles court three and went a perfect 6-0 on the year with Roy Horovitz.
“I’m super excited to play there for the first time,” Jódar said. “I think it’s a good opportunity for me to see my level with these players, because they are the best eight players under-20 that have done very well during the season. It’s a reward for those players to play against each other and to see the level.”