Rafael Jodar’s run at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers met its end under the lights of IGA Stadium on Wednesday, but his surge to superstardom is still well underway.
The six-foot-three Jodar’s massive game shone brightly in Montreal, just as it had in Washington a little over one week ago. Jodar was a finalist there and, if not for Brandon Nakashima’s supreme showing Wednesday, the 19-year-old would’ve become the youngest male player to reach the final here since countryman Rafael Nadal did it in 2005.
Still, this 7-6 (3), 6-4 loss to Nakashima feels like but a bump in the road to prominence for the free-swinging Spaniard, who started the year ranked 168th in the world and is leaving Montreal on the border of the top 10.
Jodar’s chance to bust through that barrier was ripped away by Nakashima’s near-flawless execution on this night, but his next tournament will present him another chance to become the fastest player of the Open Era to go from top 100 to the top 10 since tennis legend Boris Becker did it in 210 days of the 1985 season.
Before meeting Jodar on the court, Nakashima called him “explosive and powerful,” adding, “It’s been amazing to see his rise to the top.”
That rise was explosive, propelled initially by Jodar’s breakthrough win in Marrakesh, Morocco in April, which he followed up with a semifinal appearance in Barcelona, Masters quarterfinal appearances in Madrid and Rome, and then a quarterfinal showing at the French Open. His quarterfinal win over Arthur Fils in Montreal on Tuesday was his 34th win on tour this season, vaulting him all the way up to 11th in the rankings before Nakashima halted him.
The 25-year-old San Diego native was clinical in the first set, serving at 70 per cent and attacking Jodar’s second serve effectively. That’s how he seized control of the match and never relinquished it.
Nakashima broke Jodar at love to start the second, and he only gave up his first break point in the fourth game of that set before saving it along with five others throughout the rest of the match to advance to his first-ever Masters 1000 final.
“This is definitely a top-three moment of my career for sure,” said Nakashima, “so just trying to soak it all in.”
He had done that when he won his first ATP tournament in his hometown in 2022.
But Nakashima has been searching for his best level ever since and, after reaching the semifinal in D.C. and advancing to the final in Montreal, he appears to have found it.
Nakashima beat high-ranked players Jakub Mensik and Alex de Minaur before losing to eventual champion Taylor Fritz in D.C., and he took care of Titouan Droguet and Arthur Rinderknech before smoking No. 19 Luciano Darderi and stopping the red-hot Jodar to guarantee the first all-American final in Montreal since Andre Agassi beat Pete Sampras here in 1995. His match against reigning NBO champion Ben Shelton on Thursday will also be the first all-American final at a Masters 1000 event since Andy Roddick beat Mardy Fish in Cincinnati in August 2005.
Nakashima will undoubtedly be a heavy underdog against Shelton, who dismantled Learner Tien 6-2, 6-3 in Wednesday’s other semifinal and has a chance to go from 10th to sixth in the world by repeating as champion. But he was facing long odds against the upstart Jodar and overcame them with elite serving and a punishing forehand.
Nakashima left the court thrilled with his performance.
“I’m super happy right now,” he said. “Everything I’ve done to get to this moment, all the hard work and everything, I’m just so happy that it’s paying off…”
That it’s coming now, with world Nos. 1 and 2 Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz and all-time Grand Slam leader Novak Djokovic skipping both tournaments in D.C. and Montreal, does little to dull the achievement. Nakashima’s taking confidence into the final with Shelton, hoping he can build on it to offer a greater challenge to the world’s best players.
He knows Jodar is already on his way to becoming one of them.
“I think everybody knows the talent he has, the level that he can produce,” Nakashima said. “This year, it’s been a rise like we’ve never seen before. Obviously, it’s great to see that…It’s awesome to see his progression and it’s definitely exciting for his future.”
