Rafa Jódar came back to beat Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti at the Washington Open, winning 1-6, 6-1, 6-4. The three-set result marked a major step in a campaign that carried the Spaniard to his first ATP 500 final in Washington. Jódar was ranked 24th at the time, and the ranking update after the tournament was expected to move him into the Top 20.
Jódar struggled to find his rhythm early. Musetti broke serve and took the first set 6-1, capitalizing on the Spaniard’s double faults and missed opportunities. The momentum shifted in the second set: Jódar played more aggressively, broke twice and levelled the match with a 6-1 set. In the decider, he earned the decisive break at 2-2, then held serve to close out the match 6-4.
The win added to Jódar’s growing record against elite opponents. His earlier victory over Alex de Miñaur in Madrid was his first Top 20 win; the Musetti result was his second, bringing his record against Top 20 players to two wins and five losses. His Washington run ended in the final against Taylor Fritz, information from the Spanish Tennis Federation’s player profile.
Jódar’s breakthrough season also included his first ATP title, won on clay in Marrakech at age 19. The Spanish Tennis Federation notes that he became the sixth Spanish player in the Open Era to win his first ATP title before turning 20. His results later lifted his career ranking further: The Score’s player listing placed him at No. 11, while a season summary recorded finals in Marrakech and Washington, along with another in Shanghai.
Jódar later met Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo at the Cincinnati Masters, where Tabilo won 6-2, 6-1 in the second round. Jódar’s Washington final and subsequent rise show the scale of his progress across surfaces, following earlier clay-court runs in Marrakech and Barcelona. The Citi Open, an ATP 500 played on hard courts ahead of the US Open, is a basic stop in the North American summer swing.
