Arthur Fils battles past Rafael Jodar in Barcelona semifinals for 100th win of career

Arthur Fils had multiple reasons to celebrate at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Saturday, as he battled back from a set down to beat Rafael Jodar in the semifinals of the ATP 500 event, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

First of all, he ended Jodar’s incredible winning streak—the Spaniard won his first ATP title in Marrakech last week, and extended his run to eight matches in a row with three more wins in Barcelona. And by winning the first set on Saturday, he had won 13 sets in a row, too.

But there was more—Fils’ latest win was the 100th win of his career.

And it was a big milestone: the 21-year-old Frenchman is the first man born in 2004 or later to record 100 tour-level wins in his career.

MOST CAREER WINS, MEN BORN IN 2004 OR LATER (tour-level):

• 100: Arthur Fils [born in 2004]
• 79: Alex Michelsen [born in 2004]
• 76: Jakub Mensik [born in 2005]
• 53: Learner Tien [born in 2005]
• 48: Joao Fonseca [born in 2006]

Early on in Saturday’s semifinal it looked like Jodar’s hot streak would continue, as the 19-year-old not only took the first set, but brought up double break point with Fils serving at 1-all, 15-40 in the second set.

But Fils fought off both break points and held, and after a few more holds, the Frenchman caught fire himself, winning three games in a row from 3-all to clinch the second set and send it to a third.

And he picked up right where he left off at the end of the second set in the decider, grabbing an early break for 2-1—and eventually another one for a 5-2, double-break lead—to run away with it.

“On the TV you don’t really realize how strong he is hitting,” Fils said of Jodar. “The ball is flying and going very fast, a very heavy ball. It took me one set to get used to his quality, and then after I felt a bit better and I finished very, very strong. I was feeling very, very good.

“But he is going to be a pain in the ass to play.”

Fils is now a win away from the equal-biggest title of his career, having already captured two ATP 500 crowns, both in 2024, on the clay courts of Hamburg and on hard courts in Tokyo.

He also has another title, an ATP 250, on the clay of Lyon in 2023.

Awaiting the No. 9-seeded Fils in the final on Sunday will be No. 5-seeded Andrey Rublev, who also battled back from a set down to win his semifinal over Serbian qualifier Hamad Medjedovic, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Rublev will be going for the 18th ATP title of his career, and his seventh at the ATP 500 level, having won Hamburg, St. Petersburg and Vienna in 2020, Rotterdam in 2021, Dubai in 2022 and Doha in 2025.

His two biggest career titles are a pair of Masters 1000 crowns, both on clay courts, in Monte Carlo in 2023 and Madrid in 2025.

Rublev and Fils are tied 1-1 in their head-to-head going into the final, with Rublev winning on hard courts in Hong Kong in 2024, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, but Fils winning on clay in Monte Carlo in 2025, 6-2, 6-3.