delray beach
#NextGenATP Jordahl vs. Fritz in Delray Beach
Nakajima eliminated Cilic and defending champion Kekmanovic won
February 18, 2026
Photo by Andrew Patron/BigShots
Rafael Jordahl defeated Ethan Quinn in straight sets on Tuesday in Delray Beach.
Written by ATP Staff
#NextGenATP star Rafael Jordahl is on a meteoric rise.
The 19-year-old Spanish player easily defeated 21-year-old American Ethan Quinn 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday to advance to the second round of the Delray Beach Open to face top seed Taylor Fritz.
A year ago, Jordahl was outside the top 900 in the PIF ATP rankings, playing college tennis at the University of Virginia. But he rose to No. 112 in the PIF ATP live rankings and is quickly approaching the top 100 in the world.
Jordahl, who competed in last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals, entered the Delray Beach draw thanks to the ATP Next Gen Accelerator, which provides expanded opportunities for players 20 and under. Now he will face a top-10 opponent for the first time, challenging Fritz, who reached the finals in Dallas last week.
To earn this opportunity, Jordahl converted six of the 10 break points he won, according to Infosys ATP statistics. The Spaniard won 16 of 20 second-serve points (80%) against the 2023 NCAA singles champion.
Watch Extended Tuesday highlights:
Fifth seed Tommy Paul needed to work hard to beat French southpaw Corentin Moutet 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Paul needed 11 match points to end the game. He lost 10 match points at 5-3 in the deciding game, and finally succeeded in holding serve and winning.
“I didn’t feel like I had a great feel for the ball today, but I thought I performed pretty well,” Paul said. “Obviously, losing that match 5-3 in the third game sucked, but I had to bounce back and it was all about serving in the last game, right?
In one of the day’s matches, seventh seed Brandon Nakajima defeated former world No. 3 Marin Cilic 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in a grueling 2 hours and 13 minutes. Team USA evened their Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 1-1 with 13 aces. Neither player lost serve.
“Very happy. It was definitely not an easy match, especially with him reaching the semifinals in Dallas. He’s a very dangerous player on any day, so I knew I had to play my best game and serve definitely very well,” Nakajima said. “Exciting times. First of all, I always love coming back to the United States and of course playing on the hard courts, so I’m looking forward to this time.”
Defending champion Miomir Kekmanovic also advanced with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Mattia Bellucci, while lucky loser Adam Walton eliminated Canadian Gabriel Diallo 7-6(4), 6-3.
Two All-American clashes take place in Florida on Tuesday. Sebastian Korda beat wildcard Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 7-5, and qualifier Zachary Svajda defeated Aleksandar Kovacevic 7-6(4), 6-3.
