Tennis · Washington, D.C. and Madrid
Rafa Jódar rallies past Musetti to reach Washington semifinals and secures top-20 ATP debut
The 19-year-old Spaniard recovered from a lopsided first set to beat Lorenzo Musetti 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 Washington Open, guaranteeing a spot inside the world's top 20 for the first time.
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In brief
Rafa Jódar beat Lorenzo Musetti 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 in 1 hour 59 minutes, rallying after losing the first set decisively.
The semifinal against Alejandro Tabilo on Saturday is Jódar's third ATP semifinal overall and his first on a hard surface.
Jódar, currently 24th, will enter the ATP top 20 at no worse than number 19 on Monday, his career best.
Alejandro Tabilo's quarterfinal win over Ben Shelton made him the first Chilean in the Washington semifinals since Fernando González in 2009.
World number six Alex De Miñaur lost to Brandon Nakashima 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in the quarterfinals, ending his title defense.
Jessica Pegula beat Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 7-5 and Naomi Osaka outlasted Elisabetta Cocciaretto 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the women's semifinals.
- Set 1Musetti breaks in the 4th game after a Jódar double fault, later breaks to love, takes the set 6-1.
- Set 2Jódar breaks on his fourth chance in the 2nd game, races to 4-0, and levels the match 6-1.
- Set 3, 2-2Jódar secures the only break of the final set in the 5th game and consolidates to 4-2.
- Match pointJódar holds serve cleanly in the 10th game to close the comeback 6-4.
Rafa Jódar overturned a first-set rout to defeat Italy's Lorenzo Musetti on Friday night and advance to the semifinals of the Washington Open, an ATP 500 hard-court tournament. The result locks in a top-20 ranking for the Madrid native when the standings update on Monday.
The turnaround
Jódar's night began poorly. Musetti broke serve in the fourth game of the opening set after Jódar double-faulted on a sixth break point he faced, having earlier recovered from 0-40. The Spaniard failed to convert three break-back chances in the next game, and Musetti broke again, this time to love, to run away with the first set 6-1.
The second set reversed the dynamic almost instantly. Jódar held to love to open, then generated three break points at 0-40 on Musetti's serve. He missed all three but converted on his fourth opportunity to go up a break. Musetti's service troubles deepened (44% first serves, six double faults in the set), and Jódar rushed to a 4-0 lead. He levelled the match with a 6-1 set of his own.
The decisive break
After the players traded holds through 2-2 in the third, Jódar pounced on a break chance in the fifth game and consolidated to 4-2. He faced no break points against him in the final set, protecting his serve cleanly to close out the match 6-4. The comeback spanned two hours and one minute, or one hour 59 minutes, depending on the source.
“No empecé muy bien, Lorenzo ganó el primer set 6-1. Tuve que reorganizarme mentalmente. Creo que lo hice muy bien, sobre todo al principio del segundo set. Saqué muy bien y eso me dio la oportunidad de ganar el segundo y el tercer sets. Estoy muy contento con cómo me recuperé.”
“Al ser mi primera semifinal en cancha dura significa mucho. Estoy muy contento pero entiendo que esto no termina aquí y que tengo un partido mañana.”
Ranking milestone
By reaching the final four, Jódar (currently ranked 24th) guaranteed a rise to at least number 19 in the ATP rankings on Monday, his first time inside the top 20. His prior career best was 23rd. Only 14 players aged 19 or younger have cracked the top 20 before. He also defends only 281 ranking points for the rest of 2026, all of them earned at the ATP Challenger level in 2025, leaving room to climb further.
Semifinal lineup
Jódar faces Chile's Alejandro Tabilo (ranked 30th) on Saturday. Tabilo upset second-seeded American Ben Shelton 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. The two have met once, in the first round of the Indian Wells Masters 1000, where Tabilo won 6-1, 6-2 in under an hour. Tabilo's run marks the first Chilean semifinal appearance in Washington since Fernando González reached that stage in 2009.
In the other half of the draw, defending champion Alex De Miñaur fell to American Brandon Nakashima 7-6 (7/5), 6-4. Nakashima (33rd) will meet Taylor Fritz (10th), who outlasted Alex Michelsen (40th) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), in an all-American semifinal on Saturday.
- Rafa Jódar
- 24 ranking
- Alejandro Tabilo
- 30 ranking
- Brandon Nakashima
- 33 ranking
- Taylor Fritz
- 10 ranking
Data from the article text
Women's event
In the WTA 500 tournament held concurrently, top-seeded Jessica Pegula eliminated Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 7-5 to reach her sixth semifinal of the year. She awaits the winner of Diana Shnaider versus Liudmila Samsonova. Naomi Osaka, the third seed, fought past Elisabetta Cocciaretto 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 and will face either second-seeded Elina Svitolina or Alexandra Eala for a spot in Sunday's final.
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Sources and context
- europa pressRafa Jódar remonta a Musetti y se mete en semifinales de Washington
- EL MUNDORafa Jódar se clasifica para las semifinales en Washington y entra en el top 20 de la ATP
- ABC TU DIARIO EN ESPAÑOLJódar derrota a Musetti y alcanza por primera vez unas semifinales en pista rápida
- El PeriódicoJódar se mete en semifinales de Washington tras remontar contra Musetti
- Lorenzo Musetti
- Italian tennis player, ranked 15th, defeated by Jódar in the Washington quarterfinals.
- Alejandro Tabilo
- Chilean tennis player, ranked 30th, Jódar's semifinal opponent after beating Ben Shelton.
- Ben Shelton
- American tennis player, ranked 8th, second seed in Washington, lost to Tabilo in the quarterfinals.
- Brandon Nakashima
- American tennis player, ranked 33rd, defeated De Miñaur to reach the Washington semifinals.
- Taylor Fritz
- American tennis player, ranked 10th, advanced to the Washington semifinals against Nakashima.
- Alex Michelsen
- American tennis player, ranked 40th, lost to Fritz in the Washington quarterfinals.
- Jessica Pegula
- American tennis player, ranked 3rd, reached the Washington WTA 500 semifinals.
- Naomi Osaka
- Japanese tennis player, ranked 13th, four-time Grand Slam winner, reached the Washington WTA 500 semifinals.
- Fernando González
- Chilean tennis player, last Chilean to reach the Washington semifinals before Tabilo, in 2009.
- Places
- Washington, D.C., United States, Barcelona, Marrakesh
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