Rafael Jodar one win from shattering Boris Becker's 40-year record at Canadian Open
Rafael Jodar moved within one victory of the fastest top-100-to-top-10 climb in men's tennis history on 11 August, defeating Arthur Fils 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 to reach the Canadian Open semi-final in Montreal.
The 19-year-old Spaniard, already 11th in the live ATP rankings, would break Boris Becker's 40-year-old record if he reaches the top 10 this week. Becker went from outside the top 100 to inside the top 10 in 210 days as an 18-year-old in 1985. Jodar would do it in 140 (BBC Sport).
The condition is straightforward but not simple. Jodar must beat American Brandon Nakashima in the semi-final. If Ben Shelton also reaches the final, Jodar would need to beat him too. A Masters 1000 title — the tier of tournaments just below the Grand Slams — carries enough ranking points to lift him from 11th into the elite 10.
The numbers around Jodar's name are already startling. Twelve months ago he was ranked outside the world's top 500. He turned professional only in December 2025 after competing at the Next Gen ATP Finals, the season-ending event for the tour's best under-21 players (ATP Tour). He won his first tour title on clay in Marrakech earlier this year. Now he sits 11th in the world and climbing.
Jodar is the first player born in 2006 or later to reach a Masters 1000 semi-final, and the first teenager since Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2018 to reach the last eight in Montreal (BBC Sport).
For context on just how quickly Jodar has moved, consider the greats. Carlos Alcaraz needed 336 days to go from the top 100 to the top 10. Novak Djokovic took 623. Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner each required 735. Roger Federer took 973 — nearly three years. Jodar's 140 days would not just beat Becker's mark. It would halve Federer's.
What makes the run remarkable is the surface. Jodar built his reputation on clay — the slow, high-bouncing courts that reward patience and heavy topspin — posting a 15-3 tour-level record on the surface this season and earning a joint Tour-leading 15 clay wins. He became the youngest Rome quarter-finalist in 21 years. Montreal's hard courts, faster and lower-bouncing, were supposed to be less forgiving to a player still learning his trade. Instead he has beaten top-30 opposition to reach the final four.
The first set against Fils turned on the tiebreak — the shootout used to decide a set that reaches six games all. Jodar took it 7-5, and from there the second set was controlled: one break of serve, the margin that decided the match.
Jodar's career-high ranking of No. 15 came on 3 August. He has a tour record of 32 wins and 13 losses, with $2.39 million in prize money — numbers that barely seem to belong to someone who was outside the top 500 a year ago.
Nakashima stands between Jodar and a place in the final, and between him and a piece of history that has stood since 1985. One more win, and the name on the record changes for the first time in four decades.
