Rafael Jodar reached the quarter-finals at the 2026 Shanghai Masters after he was at the centre of a controversial incident during his last 16 match.

The Spanish prodigy defeated world No 42 Botic van de Zandschulp 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2 in the fourth round at the Masters 1000 event on Wednesday.

Jodar, who is making his debut in Shanghai, is through to his fourth Masters 1000 quarter-final in just his seventh appearance at this category

The 19-year-old’s run in China has continued his remarkable progress in 2026, but he has come under fire for his actions during his win over van de Zandschulp.

The world No 11 received a code violation warning from chair umpire Jimmy Pinoargote, and the reason emerged later.

After losing a point, Jodar was heard expressing his frustration to a ball kid, who was handing him the towel, by saying: “Give me the f–––––– towel, damn it!”

Jodar was not asked about the incident in his post-match press conference, but here is everything he said.

Q. Another comeback from a set down. Can you talk about how pleased you are in yourself with how hard you fought this week for your victories?

JODAR: Yeah, I’m very happy how the week is going for me. In this case, I’ve already done three comebacks, losing the first set in all three matches. But I’m very proud of my fight and the spirit of fighting always, and super happy to be in the quarter-finals here for the first time in Shanghai.

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Q. After losing the first set, did you feel that you needed to change up the game plan at all or not?

JODAR: Well, some details I did some adjustments. I think starting with the break up in the first game of the second set, that allowed me to get into that second set with a better shape and with better mentality. I was trying to fight until the last point, even if I was losing the first set. I wouldn’t say I was playing that badly in the first set, it was just that he played important points better than me, that’s about it.

Q. Can you elaborate the job you are doing on your serve. What are you trying to do to improve maybe one of the shots that is the most improvements for you in the next years?

JODAR: Well, the serve is always very important part of the game, especially on hard court. In these conditions, when the balls are new, you have to serve well, that’s about it. We’ve been working about the serve these past few months, but there’s still a long way to improve, not just the serve, but all the shots I think in general in my game.

Q. The work you are doing on the serve, is it about changing the motion of your serve, or it’s just general work on your serve?

JODAR: Well, I would have to talk to my team, to my dad, and let’s see what we can improve for in the serve for the next years.

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