Spanish tennis sensation Rafael Hodar continues his phenomenal performance at the Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai. The 20-year-old talent created another feat, achieving a fourth consecutive comeback after losing the first set. In a dramatic quarterfinal that lasted two hours and 20 minutes, he prevailed over the seeded Norwegian Kasper Ruud 4:6, 6:4, 6:3.
With this triumph, Hodar maintained his 100 percent asset in his debut in the Chinese competition and officially rewrote history, becoming the youngest semifinalist since the creation of the tournament. This was also the first official clash between the two on court, with the Spaniard showing incredible mental toughness and composure in the decisive games.
The success in Shanghai significantly boosted Hodar's ambitions to qualify for the final eight tournament in Turin. With the added points, he overtook the legend Novak Djokovic and Australian Alex de Minaur in the annual ranking, climbing to 9th place. This position puts him extremely close to the last quota for Turin, although the outcome also depends on the performance of his direct competitors until the end of the season.
In the dispute for a place in the grand final, Rafael Hodar will meet the winner of the quarterfinal duel between Daniil Medvedev and American Tommy Paul.
The excellent news for the Iberians in Shanghai does not stop there. Another representative of the country has also reached the semifinals - Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. For only the fifth time since 2014, two Spaniards have found a place among the top four in a tournament in the "Masters 1000" category.