Top two seeds Alex de Minaur and Ben Shelton remain on a collision course for the final at the Washington, D.C. ATP 500. They are going up against Brandon Nakashima and Alejandro Tabilo, respectively, in the quarters on Friday.
(1) Alex de Minaur vs. Brandon Nakashima
It has already been an eventful Mubadala DC Open title defense for De Minaur. The sixth-ranked Aussie defeated nemesis Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and then ended the run of compatriot Cruz Hewitt 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday afternoon. Every win right now is good one for De Minaur, who is looking to erase the demons of painful exits from Roland Garros (third round against Jakub Mensik) and Wimbledon (fourth round against Flavio Cobolli).
Up next for the No. 1 seed is a fourth showdown against Nakashima, who leads the head-to-head series 2-1 after most recently prevailing 7-5, 6-3 earlier this summer on the grass courts of Queen’s Club. The good news for De Minaur, however, is that he won their only previous outdoor hard-court contest in the same round of this same tournament 12 months ago via a 6-4, 6-4 decision. Nakashima is back in the last eight following a straight-set victory over Tomas Martin Etcheverry and a 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4 upset of Mensik. The 33rd-ranked American is in fine form, but De Minaur clearly loves this event and should take confidence from last year’s result against Nakashima.
Pick: De Minaur in 3
Alejandro Tabilo vs. (2) Ben Shelton
It will be an all-lefty showdown when Shelton and Tabilo collide for the first time in their careers. Shelton also got Friday night-session treatment last year in D.C. and beat Frances Tiafoe in straight sets before falling to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the semis. The eighth-ranked American, who has advanced this week with three-set victories over Martin Damm and Ugo Humbert, is bidding for his third consecutive semifinal appearance in the district.
Tabilo opened with a 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 defeat of Tallon Griekspoor and then dismissed Terence Atmane 6-3, 7-6(6). This a much-needed result for the Chilean, who had been 1-6 in his last seven matches prior to this week. Having already faced two left-handers, Shelton’s preparation for Tabilo was pretty much ideal. The second seed should be able to secure his spot in the semis.
Pick: Shelton in 2
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Even in the absence of Novak, Sinner, Alcaraz and Zverev this event still has a strong field.
Shelton was kinda terrible vs Humber, while Tabilo showed stellar performance vs atmane for the most part, feels like this one could go the distance or even an upset
Hubert was playing out of his mind for a set and half –
at one point for most of the first set, he had a 100% first serve points won l, which was incredible. I wouldn’t underestimate Shelton, especially in DC with the home crowd and a late-night atmosphere.
You need 2 wings to fly, Shelton’s return game must improve considerably, he is over reliant on his serve. Right now he falls into the category of servebots.