It will be an all-American semifinal in Milan as Sebastian Korda takes on Brandon Nakashima at the NextGen ATP Finals on Friday.
It has been a mixed bag for Sebastian Korda in 2021. The 21-year-old American started off with fantastic results in Delray Beach (runner-up) and a title at the Quimper Challenger. He also won his first ATP Tour title on the red clay of Parma. But after crashing out of the French Open in the first round and his fourth-round ouster at Wimbledon, Korda limped through the summer hard-court swing. He is ranked 39th in the world.
Exactly the opposite was true of countryman Brandon Nakashima, who wasn’t on the scene early in the season but came out of pretty much nowhere in July to make to two ATP finals in a row (Los Cabos and Atlanta). The 20-year-old beat John Isner at the U.S. Open but promptly lost to Alex Molcan in the second round. Nakashima sits at a career-high ranking of 63rd in the world.
The two men have never played a tour-level match, but based on recent form in Milan Korda probably has the edge. Nakashima dropped his first round-robin match this week to No. 1 seed Carlos Alcaraz, while Korda won all three of his matches. Korda has shown his customary composure this week. He went down two sets in his first match of the week against Hugo Gaston before he came roaring back to win in five.
Nakashima is quickly working his way into form, but Korda’s groundstrokes have a bit more bite to them at the moment.
Cheryl pick: Korda in 4
Ricky pick: Korda in 4
Korda in 4,