SHANGHAI — Alejandro Davidovich Fokina recovered from a set and a break down to beat fellow Spaniard Rafael Jodar 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the Shanghai Masters final on Sunday, winning the first ATP Masters 1000 title of his career.

The 27-year-old, seeded 25th, needed two hours and 28 minutes at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena to see off the 20-year-old Jodar, who was playing in his first final at this level, according to the ATP Tour.

The victory caps a remarkable turnaround for a player who had lost his first five tour-level finals and who missed two months this summer with a back injury. It is his third title of 2026 after Mallorca in June and Chengdu last month, and he has now won 10 consecutive matches in China.

"I don't have any words right now," Davidovich Fokina said, as quoted by the Associated Press. "I have a blank mind. I don't know what to say and I don't know how I feel. Just a huge relief."

He will rise 13 places to a career-high No. 13 in Monday's rankings, the ATP said. Jodar moves up two spots to No. 11, equalling his best, but missed the chance to make his top-10 debut.

Davidovich Fokina's previous defeats in finals came at Monte-Carlo in 2022, his only other Masters 1000 championship match, and at Delray Beach, Acapulco, Washington and Basel last year, according to Tennis Majors. He has now won his last three.

For long stretches on Sunday a sixth defeat looked likely. Jodar broke in the second game and took the opening set in 27 minutes without facing a break point, AFP reported. He broke again for a 3-2 lead in the second set.

Davidovich Fokina responded immediately, levelling at 3-3 with an off-balance backhand pass down the line after chasing down a drop shot, according to the AP. He then saved five break points across his next three service games, Tennis Majors reported, before taking the tiebreak 7-5 on his first set point.

In the decider he broke for 3-2 and did not face another break point. Jodar called for the trainer at 4-3 down and received treatment on his right thigh, and he needed attention on his left thigh at 5-4, according to AFP. The match ended on Davidovich Fokina's second championship point when Jodar could not return serve.

"He's an amazing player and it was very tough to play against him," Davidovich Fokina said of his opponent, according to the AP.

Addressing Jodar at the trophy ceremony, he said: "You are 20-year-old but man, you have a future. And you're gonna be here many times," AFP reported.

Jodar, who had won one career title before this week, called the final "another tennis match," according to AFP. "I just tried to enjoy the moment," he said. "I gave everything, but it wasn't meant to be today."

The route to the title was rarely straightforward. Davidovich Fokina saved a match point against Frances Tiafoe in the third round, came from a set down to beat Hubert Hurkacz 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) and then beat top seed Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the semi-finals, according to Tennis Majors.

That made him only the fourth man to win a maiden Masters 1000 title with comeback victories in both the semi-final and the final, after Michael Chang in Toronto in 1990, Thomas Johansson in Montreal in 1999 and Andrey Rublev in Monte-Carlo in 2023, the outlet said.

He is also the first Spaniard to win Shanghai. Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer and Roberto Bautista Agut all lost finals here, and Davidovich Fokina becomes the 16th different Spanish man to win a Masters 1000 event, according to Tennis Majors.

Jodar, seeded 12th, beat Casper Ruud and former champion Daniil Medvedev on his way to the final and came from a set down in four of his five matches, spending 11 hours 20 minutes on court before Sunday compared with 8 hours 28 minutes for his opponent. He is the youngest man to reach the Shanghai final and the first born in 2006 to contest a Masters 1000 title match.

Davidovich Fokina made his tour debut in April 2019 and had waited seven years for a first title before his win in Mallorca, according to Asharq Al-Awsat. He returned from his back injury in Chengdu in late September and has not lost since.

"I cannot describe with words what I achieved in this Chinese swing," he told a press conference, according to the paper. "I never thought I would have two titles after two months out."

He credited his close friend Arthur Fils, who returned from a long absence to win matches, with giving him motivation, the ATP reported.

The result also settled business elsewhere. Ben Shelton secured his place at the Nitto ATP Finals for a second straight year because of Jodar's defeat, Tennis Majors reported. Jodar sits ninth in the race to Turin, just inside the cut for the eight-man season finale in November, with the European indoor swing still to come.