Davidovich Fokina wins Shanghai for a first Masters 1000 title

One. That is how many games Alejandro Davidovich Fokina won in the opening set of the Shanghai Masters final, and he still beat Rafael Jodar 1-6, 7-6, 6-4 to take the first Masters 1000 title of his career, the biggest of his three.

On paper the final belonged to the other man. Jodar hit 38 winners to Davidovich Fokina's 17, served 12 aces to his 6, and won more points over the match, 107 to 104, and still lost. The difference was at the margins. Davidovich Fokina saved 8 of the 12 break points he faced, 67 percent, and converted 3 of the 7 he created, which was enough to turn a 1-6 first set into a title.

The match turned in the second set. Davidovich Fokina was broken to trail 2-3, broke straight back to level at 3-3, and the set went to a tiebreak, which he won 7-5. In the deciding set he broke for 1-0, was broken back for 1-1, then broke again for 3-2 and served it out 6-4. He held two match points in the final and faced none, so the comeback never needed a rescue of its own.

The week had asked for one earlier. Against Frances Tiafoe in the third round he saved a match point, and in the semi-final he beat the top seed Alexander Zverev from a set down. Davidovich Fokina's first two titles, Mallorca and Chengdu, were both ATP 250 events, and all three have come in 2026, after a career that had produced five lost finals. Shanghai is his first Masters 1000.

Jodar leaves with the harder number to carry home. He is 20, was seeded 12, and reached the final by beating Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-final. He won the opening set 6-1 and lost the next two, but a run to a Masters 1000 final at 20, already ranked 13, is a week most players his age never get.

Match tale, 18 October 2026, sources: Shanghai Masters, api-tennis