Jodar confirms Davis Cup Final 8 with Spain: “Something unique”

November 15, 2026

After his opening loss at the ATP Finals in Turin, the Spaniard said he will have little time to rest: Spain comes next, then a one-month break to prepare 2027 “without any expectations”.

Rafael Jodar, ATP Finals 2026 press conference | © Imago / PsNewz

Rafael Jodar will play the Davis Cup Final 8 with Spain next week, straight after the ATP Finals. The 8th seed confirmed it in Turin on Sunday, after his 6-4, 6-4 loss to Alexander Zverev in his first ever ATP Finals match.

“I still have this tournament and next week, Davis Cup as well,” Jodar said in his press conference. “I think these two tournaments are very special for me, because representing my country […] in the Final 8 will be something unique.” He added that it is very difficult to be selected to play Davis Cup for his country, and that he has been: “I’m very grateful and lucky to be part of the Team Spain.”

Italy, the defending champion, hosts the Davis Cup by Generali Final 8 in Bologna from November 24 to 29.

A one-month break, then 2027 “without any expectations”

After the Davis Cup, he plans to take a break. “I’ll have one month to prepare for the next season and without any expectations, trying to go tournament by tournament, knowing that the year is very long,” he explained. Asked whether extra pressure could come in 2027, he was clear: “I don’t have any pressure. I’ll just try to go better every day and in every tournament that I play.”

His mindset: “I think I’m still very young and I can improve many things in the future.”

“From Nadal to Alcaraz”: Jodar on Spain’s lineage

Asked what makes Spain so special, from Rafael Nadal to Carlos Alcaraz and now him, Jodar did not claim to have the answer. “I don’t really know,” he said. “It’s true that we’ve always had many good Spanish players since, well, Nadal and even before. Before him, there were so many good players.”

He sees it as a challenge, but not as a guarantee. “If I want one day to be up there, there is still a long way to go, I have to improve a lot of things, and not because I am from the same country as them means that I’m gonna achieve the same things as them. That just means that I’m lucky to be in a country where there are many good players, but I have to follow my own path and with the same ambition and concentration as I had this year.”

On the match itself, Jodar felt it came down to “small details”, with just two breaks, one in each set. He pointed to the two break points he had on Zverev’s serve at 5-4 in the first set as “maybe the crucial moment of the match”: “He served very good in those two points, so I didn’t have any chance.”