Montreal, 12 August 2026 — Rafael Jódar has reached the semifinal of the ATP Masters 1000 event National Bank Open in Montreal. The 19-year-old Spaniard defeated Arthur Fils in a nerve-shredding quarterfinal, 7-6(5), 6-3, breaking new ground in the process: it was the first time Jódar had ever advanced to the last four at a Masters 1000 tournament.
Rain, tiebreak, drama
The match was disrupted even before the first serve. Persistent rain forced the organisers to push the originally scheduled Monday contest back to Tuesday. Play on the outdoor hard court was anything but straightforward once it got under way: in the first set, with Fils leading 5-4 and holding a 30-0 lead on serve, rain intervened again. The interruption appeared to knock the Frenchman out of his rhythm — when play resumed, both players produced a high-quality tiebreak, fighting for every point until the very end. Jódar ultimately claimed the first set 7-5 in the tiebreak.
Fils, who entered as the 18th seed and the highest-ranked of ten Frenchmen inside the top 100, battled to the last: he saved three of four match points before Jódar converted his fourth to close out the match. Statistically, Fils delivered a respectable performance — winning 66 percent of points on first serve and hitting seven aces — but in the end luck deserted him at the crucial moments.
Jódar dominates the second set
After the gruelling opener, Jódar seized control in the second set. The 20th seed from Madrid won 80 percent of his service games and gave Fils virtually no room on return: Fils took just three games in the second set, which Jódar wrapped up 6-3. Jódar struck 20 winners and won 73 percent of points on first serve — numbers that clearly reflected his superiority throughout the second set.
Jódar had reached the quarterfinal without dropping a set, having previously beaten Corentin Moutet, Lorenzo Musetti and Jiří Lehečka. It was his first ever appearance at the Montreal tournament. The clash with Fils was their third meeting of the season: Fils had won on clay in Barcelona in April, Jódar had levelled the score on hard court in Washington at the end of July — and now came the decisive rubber in Montreal.
A historic milestone for a talent with big ambitions
Fils, for his part, had already reached two Masters 1000 semifinals in 2026 — in Miami and Madrid — and is firmly established among the new generation's elite. In Montreal, his run ended at the quarterfinal stage. The tournament itself took on an unusually open feel in 2026: with several leading favourites eliminated and Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz all absent, every one of the eight quarterfinalists was born after 2000.
Rafael Jódar, who claimed his first Tour title in Marrakech in April 2026 and cites Rafael Nadal as his great idol, demonstrated in Montreal that he is taking the next step of his rise to the top of the game with absolute conviction. A fresh challenge awaits in the semifinal.
