Rafael Jódar
Rafael Jódar Camacho is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 124 achieved on 2 February 2026.
Jódar lifted the 2024 US Open Junior singles title.
Early life
Jódar is from Madrid, Spain. On his father's side, his family is originally from Baeza. He was not named after Rafael Nadal; his father, his grandfather and his great-grandfather share the name Rafael. He started taking tennis lessons in his early childhood.Junior career
Jódar had good results on the ITF junior circuit, maintaining a 93–18 singles win-loss record. In June 2024, he won the prestigious U18 grass tournament in Roehampton, England, prior to a run at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships that saw him became the last Spaniard in the main draw competition and included a straight sets victory over fourth seed Tomasz Berkieta. He lost in the quarterfinals to Naoya Honda. He also reached the quarterfinals of the doubles category, with compatriot Andrés Santamarta Roig, where they lost to Czech pair Jan Kumstát and Jan Klimas.In September, he was crowned champion in the boys' singles category at the 2024 US Open, with impressive victories over second seed Kaylan Bigun in the quarterfinal and third seed Rei Sakamoto in the semifinal. He defeated first seed Nicolai Budkov Kjaer in the final.
Later that season, Jódar qualified for the [ITF Junior Masters|2024 International Tennis Federation|ITF Junior Finals], where he was a runner-up. In the final, he lost to Mees Röttgering in straight sets.
He reached an ITF junior combined ranking of world No. 4 on 9 September 2024.
Professional career
2025: Challenger titles, NextGen Finals, Turned pro
In August, Jódar won his maiden ATP Challenger title at the Crete Challenger III, Greece, as an alternate, defeating sixth seed Dan Added in the final. The two players faced again the following week at the Crete Challenger IV, this time Added defeating Jódar in the semifinal.Ranked No. 283, Jódar won his second title at the 2025 Lincoln Challenger, United States, defeating three seeds en route: Top seed Brandon Holt, fourth seed Patrick Kypson and eight seed Martin Damm Jr., and moved to ninth position in the [2025 Next Gen Association of Tennis Professionals|ATP Finals|NextGen race] on 20 October 2025.
Jódar won his third straight Challenger title at the Jonathan Fried Pro Challenger in Charlottesville, and became the third Spanish teenager to win at least three Challenger titles, joining Carlos Alcaraz and Nicolas Almagro. He reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 166 on 3 November 2025 and moved back to ninth position in the ATP Live Race To Jeddah. In November, he officially qualified for the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals. In his opening match, he saved four match points to secure a victory against top seed and eventual champion Learner Tien. He also defeated compatriot and friend Martín Landaluce at the event. Having began 2025 ranked No. 895 in singles, Jódar climbed more than 700 spots in the rankings across that season.
In December 2025, Jódar announced that he was turning professional full time.
2026: Major debut
In January, Jódar made his Australian Open debut as a qualifier, securing a maiden main draw win against fellow qualifier Rei Sakamoto in the first round.Personal life
Jódar attended the University of Virginia in 2024, before announcing his decision to pursue tennis full-time on 31 December 2025.Jódar's tennis idol is Rafael Nadal. The young Spaniard is also a supporter of football club Real Madrid.
ATP Challenger Tour finals
Singles: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score | ||||||||||||||
| Win | 1–0 | [2025 Crete Challenger III – Singles|] | Crete Challenger III, Greece | Challenger | Hard |  dts|Oct 2025ITF World Tennis Tour finalsSingles: 1 (runner-up)
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