Nakashima halts Jodar’s meteoric rise to set up all-American National Bank Open final

MONTREAL — Rafael Jodar’s run at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers met its end under the lights of IGA Stadium on Wednesday, but his surge to superstardom is still well underway.

The six-foot-three Jodar's massive game shone brightly in Montreal, just as it had in Washington a little over one week ago. Jodar was a finalist there and, if not for Brandon Nakashima’s supreme showing Wednesday, the 19-year-old would’ve become the youngest male player to reach the final here since countryman Rafael Nadal did it in 2005.

Still, this 7-6 (3), 6-4 loss to Nakashima feels like but a bump in the road to prominence for the free-swinging Spaniard, who started the year ranked 168 th in the world and is leaving Montreal on the border of the top 10.

Jodar’s chance to bust through that barrier was ripped away by Nakashima’s near-flawless execution on this night, but his next tournament will present him another chance to become the fastest player of the Open Era to go from top 100 to the top 10 since tennis legend Boris Becker did it in 210 days of the 1985 season.

Before meeting Jodar on the court, Nakashima called him “explosive and powerful,” adding, “It’s been amazing to see his rise to the top.”

That rise was explosive, propelled initially by Jodar’s breakthrough win in Marrakesh, Morocco in April, which he followed up with a semifinal appearance in Barcelona, Masters quarterfinal appearances in Madrid and Rome, and then a quarterfinal showing at the French Open. His quarterfinal win over Arthur Fils in Montreal on Tuesday was his 34 th win on tour this season, vaulting him all the way up to 11 th in the rankings before Nakashima halted him.

The 25-year-old San Diego native was clinical in the first set, serving at 70 per cent and attacking Jodar’s second serve effectively. That’s how he seized control of the match and never relinquished it.

Nakashima broke Jodar at love to start the second, and he only gave up his first break point in the fourth game of that set before saving it along with five others throughout the rest of the match to advance to his first-ever Masters 1000 final.

“This is definitely a top-three moment of my career for sure,” said Nakashima, “so just trying to soak it all in.”

He had done that when he won his first ATP tournament in his hometown in 2022.

But Nakashima has been searching for his best level ever since and, after reaching the semifinal in D.C. and advancing to the final in Montreal, he appears to have found it.

Nakashima beat high-ranked players Jakub Mensik and Alex de Minaur before losing to eventual champion Taylor Fritz in D.C., and he took care of Titouan Droguet and Arthur Rinderknech before smoking No. 19 Luciano Darderi and stopping the red-hot Jodar to guarantee the first all-American final in Montreal since Andre Agassi beat Pete Sampras here in 1995.