American Brandon Nakashima notched a win over Jordan Thompson for the second week in a row, earning a spot in the Truist Atlanta Open semifinals for the first time.
Brandon Nakashima finds himself in the semifinals of the Truist Atlanta Open with a tidy straight-set win over Jordan Thompson, 7-6(5), 7-5 on Fridat afternoon.
Nakashima is positively zooming up the ATP rankings. The 19-year-old came out of nowhere last week to reach the final in Los Cabos, where he lost to Cam Norrie in straight sets and hopped 19 spots. He now finds himself in the semifinals in Atlanta, where he faces the winner of Cam Norrie and Emil Ruusuvuori. Should he lose in the semis, he is still projected to jump up another 17 spots in the rankings for a guaranteed spot inside the top 100.
Nakashima earned his semifinal berth with a second win in two weeks over Thompson. The former University of Virginia standout was the better player off the ground, but Thompson kept the match competitive with strong serving. Nakashima scored the first break of the match at 2-2, but he was broken at love serving out the first set at 5-4. The American kept his cool in the tiebreaker, in which he converted on his first set point.
Nakashima continued to be dominant off the ground in the second set. He earned a couple of break points at 3-2, but Thompson served his way out of trouble. Both men held until Nakashima earned his first match point with Thompson serving at 5-6. As he did in the first set, the world No. 115 seized his first opportunity with a backhand return winner.
Nakashima has looked plenty good on tv….good wheels too!
He’s in the final now -hope he wins , great record against big servers