Jodar on verge of fastest ascent to ATP top 10 after Montreal semi win
Rafael Jodar is on the verge of breaking the record for the fastest rise to the top 10 in men's tennis after defeating Arthur Fils 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 to reach the semi-final of the Canadian Open in Montreal on 11 August 2026. The 19-year-old is 11th in the live ATP rankings and would enter the top 10 with a semi-final win over Brandon Nakashima unless Ben Shelton also reaches the final, in which case Jodar would need to beat Shelton as well.
The current benchmark for the quickest progression from the top 100 to the top 10 is Boris Becker's 210 days, set in 1985 when he was 18; Jodar would accomplish the move in 140 days if he completes the feat in Canada. Even if he falls short in Montreal, the report notes that strong results at the upcoming Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati or at the US Open would very likely be sufficient to break the record.
Comparisons with recent stars underline the speed of Jodar's climb: Carlos Alcaraz required 336 days to move from the top 100 to the top 10, Novak Djokovic took 623 days, both Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner needed 735 days, and Roger Federer took 973 days. The fastest move to the top 10 in women's tennis is 203 days, set by Jennifer Capriati in 1990 when she was 14.
Jodar became the first teenager since Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2018 to reach the last eight in Montreal and is the first player born in 2006 or later to reach a Masters 1000 semi-final. He has one tour title this season, having won the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech, Morocco on clay earlier in the year.
His introduction to full-time professional tennis came at the beginning of 2026, and he collected his first Grand Slam match win on debut at the Australian Open in January. He moved into the top 100 on 30 March after reaching the third round of the Miami Open and rose into the top 50 by 20 April following his first top-10 victory, over Alex de Minaur in Madrid.
Jodar produced back-to-back quarter-final runs in Rome and Madrid — the first time a teenager had done so since Rafael Nadal 21 years earlier — then reached the quarter-finals of Roland Garros in June, where he lost to eventual winner Alexander Zverev, and made the third round at Wimbledon.
He cites Rafael Nadal as his childhood inspiration and refers to his namesake as his idol; at 6ft 3in he plays with aggressive, heavy, high-speed topspin from the baseline and a serve described as several miles per hour faster than the tour average. The report says his attacking style leaves him prone to taking risks on big points and in rallies, and that his game is stylistically closer to current world number one Jannik Sinner than to Carlos Alcaraz; both Sinner and Alcaraz are currently out with injury, and Jodar's rapid ascent could mean he announces himself as the pair's most serious long-term threat in the coming weeks.
Most bookmakers have installed him among the top eight favourites to win the US Open in New York next month, and his debut season has attracted major attention and widespread excitement. Jodar now faces Brandon Nakashima in the Canadian Open semi-final, with a victory there carrying the immediate consequence of promoting him into the ATP top 10 unless Ben Shelton also reaches the final, which would require Jodar to defeat Shelton to make the top 10.
