Brandon Nakashima beat Marcos Giron 6-4 6-4 in an all-American final to win his first ATP Tour title in his third final in his home city at the San Diego Open.
Nakashima has moved 21 places this week moving up to world number 48 in the ATP Ranking and number 6 in the ATP Next Gen Race to Milan. The US player reached the semifinal at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals.
Nakashima converted the only break point in the fifth game to claim the first set 6-4.
The first set did not feature a single deuce game, before four games went to deuce in the second set. Nakashima went up an early break in the first game, but he dropped his serve for the first time in the match at deuce in the fourth game for 2-2. Nakashima won eight points from 2-2, including a break in the fifth game to take a 4-2 lead. Giron held serve at 3-4 in the seventh game. Nakashima won 12 of the last 13 points on serve, including a love hold to close out the match. “It feels like a dream to win my first ATP title in my home town. To be able to capture my first title here. It’s unbelievable. Amazing atmosphere here tonight. I just really want to say thank you for coming out and showing your support. No matter the score out here today. I always knew there were going to be some tough moments. I knew it wasn’t going to come easy against my friend Giron. I had to battle for every game. At the beginning of the second set, a couple of tight games. I lost my serve, but I think I regrouped pretty well in the next game. I was happy to close it out on my serve ”, said Nakashima.
