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Rafael Jodar and Alexander Blockx arrive at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome as two of the ATP Tour’s fastest-rising players, having each enjoyed a rapid climb over the past 12 months. Making their debuts in Rome, the pair enter with momentum and new career-high rankings inside the Top 40.

A year ago, their positions looked very different. Jodar was competing in the NCAA tournament for the University of Virginia and ranked outside the Top 650, while Blockx had made just three ATP Tour main-draw appearances. Both competed at the 2025 Next Gen ATP Finals, still in the early stages of their transition to the top level.

Since then, their progress has accelerated. Jodar made a major step forward on home soil in Madrid last week, when the Spaniard reached his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final. The 19-year-old defeated Top-10 star Alex de Minaur and overcame fellow teenager Joao Fonseca in the Spanish capital.

Blockx went even further. The 21-year-old advanced to the semi-finals at a tour-level event for the first time, clinching three Top 20 wins before falling to World No. 3 Alexander Zverev.

Those Madrid runs lifted Jodar to No. 34 and Blockx to No. 36 in the PIF ATP Rankings, respectively, underlining how quickly both have established themselves on the Tour. For Jodar, it continues a steep rise that took off in 2025. The Spaniard won three ATP Challenger trophies in the second half of last season and qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals, earning wins against eventual champion Learner Tien and Martin Landaluce in the round-robin stage.

This season, the 19-year-old triumphed at the ATP 250 event in Marrakech to become just the second man born in 2006 or later to win a tour-level trophy, after Fonseca. Jodar then advanced to the semi-finals on home soil at the ATP 500 in Barcelona.

Blockx’s progress has been more gradual, but his recent results signal a clear breakthrough. The 21-year-old, who reached the title match at the Next Gen ATP Finals in December, had not won a tour-level match on clay prior to April this year. However, he now enters Rome high in confidence after reaching the third round in Monte-Carlo, the second round in Munich and the semi-finals in Madrid.

Both will be eager to build further in Rome in the next fortnight. Blockx opens against Italian wild card Federico Cina on Wednesday, while 32nd seed Jodar will face Jesper de Jong or Nuno Borges in his opening match.

[ATP APP]