Jódar and Davidovich Fokina set up all-Spanish Shanghai final

Spain will have a Masters 1000 champion in Shanghai on Sunday. Rafael Jódar beat 2019 champion Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to become the youngest finalist in the tournament's history, a few hours after Alejandro Davidovich Fokina came from a set down to beat top seed Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

According to Tennis Majors, it will be the first all-Spanish Masters 1000 final on hard courts since the series began in 1990. The ATP counts it as only the ninth all-Spanish title match at Masters 1000 level overall.

Jódar in control against Medvedev

All week in Shanghai, the 20-year-old had needed comebacks, losing the opening set against Jiří Lehečka, Botic van de Zandschulp and Casper Ruud before turning those matches around. Against Medvedev he never trailed. Jódar broke early in both sets, hit 22 winners to the Russian's 14 and closed out the match in one hour and 44 minutes.

The only wobble came at the end. Medvedev saved three match points while serving at 3-5 in the second set, but Jódar then served out the match to love. "It was a very tough match," he said, according to the ATP. "I am super happy with how I handled the important moments."

The numbers behind his season keep growing. Jódar is the first man born in 2006 or later to reach a Masters 1000 final, and his win over Medvedev was his 20th at Masters 1000 level this season. The ATP notes that only Rafael Nadal, at 19 in 2005, reached that mark at a younger age. It was also Jódar's second Top-10 win of 2026.

The 12th seed started the year ranked No. 168. Tennis Majors reports he is already certain to reach a career-high No. 11 on Monday. In the Live Race to Turin he is ninth, 279 points ahead of Alex de Minaur, and according to the ATP a title on Sunday would lift him into the Top 10.

Davidovich Fokina turns it around against Zverev

The first semi-final looked to be going Zverev's way when the German took a tight opening set. But the world No. 26 kept pressing, broke in the second set and then pulled clear in the decider. Zverev's first double fault of the match, after around 100 minutes of play, handed the Spaniard an early break, and he went on to lead 3-0. Davidovich Fokina converted his third match point when Zverev netted a ball after two hours and two minutes.

"I knew that if I stayed there all match, I could get at least one chance and I took it there in the second set," Davidovich Fokina said, according to AFP. Arab News reports that he hit 36 winners. It was only his second win over Zverev, after their 2023 meeting in Toronto.

ATPJódar comes from a set down again to sink Van de Zandschulp in Shanghai

Zverev, who according to AFP has already secured the year-end No. 1 ranking after Jannik Sinner's injury, put the defeat down to fatigue. "Today I was flat. Even in the first set, even though I won the set, I was not reacting so well. I was returning quite badly," he said. Tennis Now quoted him as adding: "I'm not a robot, I'm a human being. I get tired."

A second Masters final, four years on

The 25th seed's only previous Masters 1000 final came in Monte-Carlo in 2022, when he finished runner-up. Shanghai is his third final of 2026, and he is going for the third title of his career. Jódar will be playing for his second tour-level title.

Whatever happens on Sunday, Spanish tennis gets a new Masters 1000 champion. If Jódar wins, he would also put himself firmly in the race for one of the last places at the ATP Finals in Turin.