JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia – Virginia sophomore Rafael Jódar is competing at the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF Dec. 17-21 at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The field of eight of the top under-20 players in the world includes Jódar, Learner Tien, Alexander Blockx, Dino Prizmic, Martin Landaluce, Nicolai Budkov Kjaer, Nishesh Basavareddy and Justin Engle.
Jódar went 2-1 in pool play, but did not advance to the semifinals after losing out in a tiebreaker. Jódar needed any result other than a four-set win by Tien by Friday to advance, but Tien downed Budkov Kjaer 3-4 (2), 4-1, 4-2, 4-2, with Tien winning the group and Budkov Kjaer earning the second semifinal spot via tiebreakers.
Jódar opened pool play with a five-set win against the tournament's top seed Tien. Jódar saved four match points in his 1-4, 4-3(3), 1-4, 4-2, 4-3(4) victory against the No. 28-ranked player in the world.
“It was a battle,” said Jodar. “I knew the conditions were good for both, but I handled the good moments very well and I’m super happy to get the first win here in Jeddah. I just tried to keep going and believe in myself. Learner always plays well, so I had to keep believing and I knew that I was going to have a chance.”
Tien leaked 23 unforced errors across the second and fourth sets to offer Jodar a route back into their first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash. But the 19-year-old Spaniard will take all the plaudits for the way he fended off the match points — including a drilled backhand down-the-line winner on the fourth.
Jódar dropped his second pool play match 4-1, 4-2, 1-4, 4-2 against Nicolai Budkov Kjaer.
On Friday (Dec. 19), Jódar defeated fellow Spaniard Martin Landaluce 4-3(7), 4-1, 4-3(2).
"I'm very happy how I handled the important moments and the pressure moments in this match," said Jodar. "Super happy to get the win here. I've been playing against him for a long time. We are very good friends. We are from the same tennis club, Club de Tenis Chamartin."
Blasting 31 winners across the match, Jodar held his nerve when it mattered most, including in the first set when he fended off four set points.
With his idol Rafael Nadal in attendance, Jodar again kept his cool in the fourth-set tie-break to avoid any late drama.
“Rafa has been my idol for a long time, since I was very young,” said the teenager. “I used to watch all of his matches. He was my role model in tennis. I’m super happy that he was here. It means a lot that he came to Saudi Arabia to watch this tournament.”
Jodar was also watertight behind his second serve, having won 92 per cent (12/13) of his second-serve points, according to the Infosys ATP Stats.
The Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF has a round-robin format, with eight players divided into two groups of four. The players that qualify are determined by the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. All singles matches are the best-of-five sets, with each set the first to four games (not six games).
The top-seeded player is placed in Group A and the second-seeded player is placed in Group B. Players seeded 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8, are then drawn in pairs with the first drawn placed in Group A. Each player plays the three other players in his group. The winner of each group (best overall record) is placed in separate semi-final brackets, with the top player in Group A playing the runner-up in Group B, and vice versa. If two or more players are tied after the round-robin matches, the ties are broken by a tie-break procedure.