Rafael Jodar fights back to beat Casper Ruud and reach Shanghai Masters semi-finals

Ruud took the opening set by breaking in the 10th game before responding to an early setback in the second to draw level at 2-2. However, Jodar gradually gained control of their first meeting, using his powerful forehand to put the Norwegian under increasing pressure.

The Spaniard broke for 5-4 before serving out the second set without dropping a point. He then stepped up another gear in the decider, breaking Ruud three times to seal an impressive victory over the world No. 24.

The result further underlined Jodar's growing reputation, as he now boasts a 10-2 record against top-30 opponents since the start of July.

Meanwhile, Jodar has acknowledged he was wrong to angrily demand a towel from a ball kid during his Shanghai Masters last-16 match, admitting he let his emotions get the better of him.

Jodar was given a warning by chair umpire Jimmy Pinoargote after losing a point against Botic van de Zandschulp in their last-16 encounter.

During the 20-year-old's three-set win, he swore angrily at a ball kid. Pinoargote picked up on this and hit the Spaniard with a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Following his victory on Wednesday, Jodar was not asked about that incident by reporters, but on Friday, after beating Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals, he addressed the matter head-on.

The world number 12 admitted he should not have done what he did, said he will learn from this incident, and that he has a lot of "respect" for ball kids.

Jodar, who beat the Norwegian 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals in Shanghai, said his frustrations got the better of him and he "couldn't control his emotions".

When asked about the incident, he told reporters, "I would like to explain that. Yeah, it was my mistake. After the match, I thought about it, and I shouldn't have done that to the ball kid. It was my mistake.

"I respect a lot the ball kids and the umpires in the match, in all the matches and all the tournaments. I shouldn't have treated the ball kid the way I did.

"I was very frustrated because of how the match was going for me. It was a very close point. And, yeah, I didn't mean to hurt the feelings of the ball kid or anything; I was just frustrated with myself. Yeah, I couldn't control my emotions at that point in the match.

"So, yeah, it was my mistake, and I'll try not to do it again, because that's not the right way to treat the ball kids. I respect their job a lot and, yeah, it wasn't anything against him or against any ball kids or umpire.

"After what I did, I should have, you know, accepted the warning that I got because it was totally right and the umpire made the right decision."

Jodar was then pressed on whether he had apologised to the ball boy or, if not, would he like to seek him out and express his regret for his actions.

The young Spanish star admitted he would like to say sorry to him and try to make things right.

He added, "I would like to apologise to the ball kid. If I have any chance to see him here at the venue, I'll try to tell him that I'm very sorry about my act and the way that I acted in that moment, and I'll never do it again.

"As I am, you know, learning how to do the forehand or how to do the backhand or how to do the serve, I'm also learning how to behave on the court. There's still a lot of things that I have to behave (work on), so I'm not perfect; I'm a human, I make mistakes, so I'll learn from this mistake to not do it again in the next one."

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