Jódar and Davidovich Fokina set up all-Spanish Shanghai Masters final
Rafael Jódar beat Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the Shanghai Masters final, AP and Marca reported. He will face fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who upset top seed Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. Marca said a Spanish man will win in Shanghai for the first time.
Rafael Jódar beat 2019 champion Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the Shanghai Masters final against fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, AP and Marca reported. The final is on Sunday, Marca reported. It is Jódar's first Masters final, AP reported. ESPN's scoreboard confirms both semifinal scores.
The final guarantees a Spanish winner at the only Masters 1000 event no Spanish man has won, Marca reported. Rafael Nadal reached the Shanghai final in 2009 and 2017, David Ferrer in 2011 and Roberto Bautista in 2016, according to Marca. It is the ninth all-Spanish final at a Masters 1000 event since 1990, Marca reported.
Medvedev saved three match points while serving down 5-3, AP reported. Jódar then closed out the match on his own serve with a forehand winner down the line, AP reported. Jódar also went to the locker room for treatment from a physiotherapist as he struggled with the effort and the humidity, Marca reported (translated). The match lasted 1 hour and 44 minutes, Marca reported.
"It means a lot to me to be in the final, but now we have to try to win it," Jódar said, according to Marca (translated). Jódar, 20, is the No. 12 seed, AP reported. His only title came on clay in Marrakech, Morocco, in April, AP reported. A Shanghai title would also lift him into the top 10, Marca reported.
Davidovich Fokina, seeded 25th, came from a set down to beat top seed Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, AP and Marca reported. The match lasted 2 hours and 2 minutes, Marca reported. He won the Chengdu Open last month and lost his only other Masters final at Monte Carlo in 2022, AP reported. "Beating Zverev, who is going to be No. 1, is the best win of my career," he said, according to Marca (translated).
Zverev recently clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking, AP reported. He had won six of their seven earlier meetings, Marca reported. "Today I was flat. Even in the first set, even though I won the set," Zverev said, according to AP. He said he had carried fatigue into the tournament, AP reported.
What we know: Jódar and Davidovich Fokina meet in Sunday's Shanghai final, so a Spanish man will win the title.
What we don't: Which of them will win Sunday's final.
Where outlets agree AP and Marca report that Jódar beat Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 and Davidovich Fokina beat Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, setting up a final between the two Spaniards.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.