Rafael Jodar made a stunning start to his Next Gen ATP Finals campaign by overcoming top seed Learner Thien across five thrilling sets on Wednesday. 

Thien, who is the only top-100 player involved in the tournament, squandered four match points as Jodar emerged a 1-4 4-3 (7-3) 1-4 4-2 4-3 (7-4) victor in just over two hours. 

After moving to 1-0 in the Blue Group, Jodar can now look ahead to meetings with two fellow debutants — Martin Landaluce and Nicolai Budkov Kjaer — in the round-robin stage.

But there was better news for Thien's compatriot Nishesh Basavareddy, who got the better of Dino Prizmic 4-2 4-3 (9-7) 3-4 (3-7) 4-2 earlier in the day. 

Second seed Alexander Blockx also made a winning start, coming from a set down to overcome Germany's Justin Engel 3-4 (7-9) 4-2 4-2 4-2 in the Red Group of the competition. 

And the final match of the day saw Budkov Kjaer join Jodar with an opening-match triumph after battling past Landaluce with a 4-1 3-4 (7-9) 4-2 4-3 (7-4) victory. 

FOUR match points saved for a BIGGEST career victory #NextGenATPFinals pic.twitter.com/vNBPJMRNsG

— Next Gen ATP Finals (@nextgenfinals) December 17, 2025

Data Debrief: Jodar jumps for joy

Following his victory, Jodar described his clash with Thien as a battle, and it was exactly that for the seventh seed. 

Jodar won 69% (33/48) of his first-serve points to Thien's 64% (41/64), with the latter also producing five double faults throughout the match to his oppponent's two. 

The Spaniard was also able to save half of the break points he faced (8/16), a metric that proved pivotal in getting himself over the line.