Jodar, Bailly charge towards Jeddah with big weeks
Rafael Jodar and Gilles Arnaud Bailly have made big moves in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah following dream weeks.
Spaniard Jodar has climbed nine spots to ninth in the Live Race after winning his second ATP Challenger Tour title of the season. The 19-year-old, who did not hit a double fault en route to the trophy in Lincoln, United States, was a sparring partner at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF in 2024 and is now firmly in contention of qualifying this year.
Jodar won the US Open Boys’ Singles title last season and has gone from strength to strength this season, also triumphing at a Challenger Tour event in Greece in August. He is on 267 points, 82 points behind eighth-placed Nishesh Basaverredy, who occupies the final qualification spot.
View PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah
Bailly has jumped four places to 11th in the Live Race. The 20-year-old Belgian enjoyed a breakthrough week on home soil at the ATP 250 event in Brussels, where he advanced through qualifying and then defeated Daniel Altmaier to secure his first tour-level win.
“I have always enjoyed the chance to play at an ATP event but to do this in my country, to qualify and then win a round was really special. I really hope to keep going now. It has been a good year for me,” Bailly said.
Bailly began the season outside the Top 800 in the PIF ATP Rankings but now sits at No. 232. The 20-year-old is proud with the progress he has made this season.
“I worked hard at the start of the year and started doing well at the Futures,” Bailly told ATPTour.com. “I then started to play more Challengers and saw my level going up and I was playing better and then had some good opportunities with the Next Gen spots, so I am grateful for that support.”
Read more about the Next Gen Accelerator here.
The Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF will take place in Jeddah from 17-21 December. The cutoff date for the Live Race is 10th November, with the Top eight players qualifying for the 20-and-under event. Joao Fonseca won the title in 2024, joining a list of former champions that includes Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
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