The 27-year-old Spaniard rallied to beat fellow Spaniard Rafael Jodar in the Shanghai Masters final on Sunday. He claimed his first-ever Masters 1000 title and his third ATP title of 2026, surprising fans one round after another in Shanghai.

Davidovich Fokina Defeats Rafael Jodar in Shanghai Masters Final

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina defeated 20-year-old Rafael Jodar 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in Sunday’s Rolex Shanghai Masters final, rallying from a set and a break down to win. Davidovich Fokina looked shaky as the match began, but eventually found his footing in the second set. He completed comebacks in both his semifinal and final match, winning the title as the lowest-seeded player to reach the quarterfinal this year.

Jodar started the final strong, dominating the first set 6-1 without facing a break point. In the second set, Davidovich Fokina settled in, initially falling behind again at 2-3 but immediately breaking back, finishing the point emphatically sprawled out on the court. He fended off a break point to hold for 4-3, two more to hold for 5-4, and two more to hold for 6-5. Davidovich Fokina then won the tiebreak 7-5 to force a decider.

The players traded breaks at the start of the third set, but Davidovich Fokina took control in the fifth game and didn’t look back from there. Late in the third set, Jodar needed a trainer for his left thigh when trailing 5-4. After returning, Davidovich Fokina quickly closed it out on his second match point when Jodar couldn’t return his serve.

Following the match, Davidovich Fokina said, “In the third set, maybe I had a bit more fitness physically. He's an amazing player and it was very tough to play against him today.”

Davidovich Fokina’s First Masters 1000 Title

Sunday’s final was Davidovich Fokina’s first career Masters 1000 title, ending a long wait for the Spanish player. He had lost his first five tour-level finals, including his only previous Masters 1000 final in Monte-Carlo in 2022 (before winning in Mallorca in June and Chengdu in September).

The win also made some history, with Davidovich Fokina becoming the first Spanish champion in Shanghai, where Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, and Roberto Bautista Agut had all lost in the final. It was the ninth all-Spanish final in Masters 1000 history, and made Davidovich Fokina the fourth player to win a maiden Masters 1000 title after comebacks in both the semifinal and the final.

A Comeback Season for Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

Davidovich Fokina’s Shanghai Masters title marks the peak of a comeback from injury. A disc protrusion in his back kept him out for two months before he returned to win Chengdu in late September, and he said he skipped a couple more tournaments this year with other injuries. Now, he’s won all three finals that he’s played this season.

The title also improves Davidovich Fokina’s ATP ranking, climbing 13 spots to a career-high No. 13 in Monday’s rankings. In the Race to Turin, he sits at 16th with 2,450 points, about 700 behind Jodar, who holds the last qualifying spot with Jannik Sinner out for the season. With the remaining points on the schedule in Paris, Davidovich Fokina has the potential to close that gap and grant himself a ticket to his first-ever ATP Finals, if he can keep his momentum.