Hodar Reaches Shanghai Quarterfinal After Towel Warning
The Spaniard won his third straight Shanghai match after losing the first set, and in the race for the Turin finals he trails Novak Djokovic by 131 points.
The second set in Shanghai had barely started when Rafael Hodar, having just lost the first, snapped at a ball kid: “Give me the f***ing towel.” The umpire is Ecuadorian and understands Spanish, so there was nothing to interpret.
A warning followed. “We don’t talk to them like that…” the umpire told Hodar, and Hodar was heard answering: “I say something just once…”. The 20-year-old turned the match around anyway.
How did Hodar turn the match against Van de Zandschulp?
The 12th seed beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and 30 minutes and reached the Shanghai quarterfinals, his first at this tournament. He lost the first set in a tiebreak and broke serve right away in the second, which, by his own account, helped him settle into the rest of the match.
Hodar also explained why the first set went to his opponent: Van de Zandschulp played the important points in the tiebreak better, and Hodar had only two break points. After the match he was brief with the ATP:
“Very happy with how the match went today.”
There is also a streak. This is the third match in a row in Shanghai that Hodar has won after dropping the first set. Tiago Agustin Tirante in the second round and Jiri Lehecka in the third went out the same way before Van de Zandschulp. In his first full season on the ATP Tour, his record is now 41-16.
How far behind Djokovic is Hodar in the race for Turin?
Shanghai is also a points story for Hodar. In the race for the finals in Turin he is currently 11th, while Novak Djokovic is 10th and ahead of him by 131 points. According to Sportklub, both Tommy Paul and Hodar could overtake Djokovic before the end of Shanghai, but one win is not enough for that, and it would take a deeper run.
According to Sportklub, this is how the picture would look if the race ended on October 14. Heading to Turin would be:
- Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton, the three who have already secured their places
- Flavio Cobolli and Frances Tiafoe
- Arthur Fils and Daniil Medvedev
- Alex de Minaur
Djokovic is outside those eight. De Minaur has overtaken him by 40 points, and if he beats Zverev in the quarterfinal, his lead grows to 200. We have already covered that story, writing about how De Minaur reached the Shanghai quarterfinal and how Paris is all that is left for Djokovic.
Paris is Djokovic’s only stop. Of the tournaments before the Turin decision, he is entered only in the Paris Masters, while his rivals are entered in more events.
Ruud is next, and Auger-Aliassime retired
Hodar’s next opponent is Casper Ruud, the 20th seed. The Norwegian advanced because Felix Auger-Aliassime retired with a knee injury while trailing 5-2 in the first set. After the match, Ruud told the ATP:
“I hope he heals quick.”
Hodar goes into the Ruud match having lost the first set in three straight matches, while Ruud comes off a match that lasted only until 5-2 in the first set.
The sources disagree on the round. The ATP lists Hodar’s next match as a quarterfinal, while Sportklub in one place writes about a semifinal. Since the Spaniard has just reached the quarterfinals, this article treats it as that round, with Ruud as the opponent.
For Hodar the warning remained a footnote to the win, while for Djokovic what follows is Paris and a calculation that cannot be won without points.
