Jodar rallies past Musetti to reach Washington semi-finals, set to crack top 20
Rafael Jodar battled back from a set down to beat Lorenzo Musetti 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 in Washington, a result that will lift the 19-year-old into the ATP top 20 for the first time and set up a semi-final against Alejandro Tabilo.
Rafael Jodar, Washington 2026 | © Nick Piacente/Sipa USA/SIPA
Rafael Jodar rallied from a set down to beat No. 4 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Friday, reaching the semi-finals of the Mubadala DC Open and guaranteeing that he will break into the top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time on Monday. The 19-year-old Spaniard, ranked No. 24, will face Alejandro Tabilo of Chile next.
“It sounds very good,” Jodar said in his on-court interview. “All the hard work I’m putting in the training weeks and the competition is paying off. I am always trying to give my best. I still have to learn a lot of things and I have to keep pushing.”
Jodar had been overwhelmed in the opening set, dropping it 6-1, before resetting to take control of the match. “I didn’t start very well with Lorenzo winning the first set 6-1,” he said. “I had to reset mentally. I think I did a great job, especially in the beginning of the second set. I served very well, and it gave me the opportunity to win the second and third sets. Really happy with how I reset.”
He did not face a break point after the first set, landing 65 percent of his first serves and winning 77 percent of those points, according to Infosys ATP Stats, against a Musetti who managed only 44 percent of his first deliveries. The match lasted one hour and 59 minutes.
Jodar’s third semi-final
The result continues a rapid rise for Jodar, who was ranked No. 540 last August and began this season at No. 168. Beating the former world No. 5 Musetti lifted him to a projected No. 19 in the live rankings, four places above his previous career high, and improved his 2026 record to 29-11. It is his third ATP Tour semi-final of the season, in a breakthrough year already marked by a title in Marrakech, a semi-final run in Barcelona and quarter-final appearances at Roland-Garros, Madrid and Rome.
For Musetti, ranked No. 15, the defeat came in his first tournament since May, having been sidelined for two and a half months by a thigh injury sustained during the clay-court season. He had beaten Matteo Arnaldi and Aleksandar Vukic on his return to the tour in Washington before falling to Jodar.
