Brandon Nakashima sets up final against Jiri Lehecka in Milan - UBITENNIS
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Brandon Nakashima sets up final against Jiri Lehecka in Milan

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10 months ago

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Brandon Nakashima edged past Jack Draper 4-3 (8-6) 1-4 4-2 4-3 (7-5) to advance to the final at the INTESA San Paolo Next Gen ATP Finals at the Allianz Cloud in Milan

 

Nakashima earned his 34th ATP Tour level win of his breakthrough season. Earlier this year he won the first ATP Tour title in San Diego. He also reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and the third round at Roland Garros and at the US Open. 

Nakashima earned a break point for 2-0 in the second game and was not able to convert a set point at 3-2. He wasted two more set points in the tie-break at 6-4 but he sealed the tie-break 8-6 on his fourth set point.

Draper broke serve in the second game to win the second set 4-1. Nakashima won the third set 4-2 with a break in the sixth game. 

The 21-year-old US player wasted a match point at 3-2 and rallied from 2-5 in the fourth set tie-break by winning five consecutive points to seal the win on his second match point. 

Nakashima hit 10 aces and did not make just eight points. He dropped just eight pointson his first serve. Draper hit 15 aces and fended off five of the six break points he faced. 

Nakashima won his first ATP title is making his second appearance at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. Earlier this week he beat Matteo Arnaldi, Jiri Ledecka and Francesco Passaro to win the Green Group. 

“It was very high quality from both of us the whole match. We played at a very high level. I had a match point at 3-2 in the fourth set, but he played very well on serve. I am happy that I remained focused in the tie-break and I was able to come back from 2-5 down. I was fighting for every point and I was happy to close it out at the end. We have both had a great year and both had great wins against top players. I knew it was going to be a tough match, he has a great lefty serve. I knew I had to be quick on my feet. I am happy I played well. I have a lot of confidence in my game right now. Tomorrow it is going to be a different match compared to the one I had against Lehecka in the round robin. I am going to try and forget about our match a couple of days ago. Jiri has been playing great all week, so I am sure it is going to be a tough match I am looking forward to playing the final. I have improved a lot as a player compared to last year. I am happy that the hard work has paid off ”, said Nakashima. 

Nakashima set up a final against Jir Lehecka in a re-match of the Round Robin Group match, where the US player prevailed 4-1 4-3 4-2. 

Lehecka beat 2020 Roland Garros boys’ champion Dominic Stricker 4-1 4-3 (7-4) 2-4 4-1 after.1 hour and 22 minutes. 

Lehecka earned his first break in the fourth game and held on his serve to win the opening set 4-1. The Czech player held serve on the deciding point before earning two mini-breaks to take a 5-1 lead. Sticker pulled one mini-break back but Lehecka held on his serve to win the tie-break 7-4. Stricker earned an early break to take a 2-0 lead and closed out the the third set with another break. Lehecka broke serve in the second game and held on his next service game to win the fourth set 4-1. 

World number 41 Draper beat Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the quarter final at the Masters 1000 in Montreal and won four Challenger titles. 

Lehecka scored his first ATP match win when he reached the semifinal in Rotterdam as a qualifier last February. 

“Today I think everything went the way I wanted. Me and my team spoke about this match yesterday and today. The plan was just to relax on the court and enjoy as much as I can. Dominic was playing incredible here, so I am very happy with my win”, said Lehecka.

The Czech player grew up looking up to Tomas Berdych. 

“When I was a kid I was looking up to Tomas Berdych because Czech Republic won two editions of the Davis Cup in 2012 and 2013. It was an incredible experience for me to see it with my own eyes”, said Lehecka. 

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Andy Murray reaches the quarter final in Zhuhai

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1 day ago

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21/09/2023

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Two-time Olympic champion Andy Murray beat Chinese wild card Mo Ye Cong 7-5 6-3 to advance to the second round at the Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships. 

 

Murray won three titles at the  Shanghai Masters 1000 in 2010, 2011 and 2016, the ATP 500 in Beijing in 2016 and the ATP 250 in Shenzhen in 2014. 

Murray saved all five break points he faced. The British player bounced back from the disappointment at the US Open, where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov in three sets. 

Murray broke serve at love in the 12th game to close out a hard-fought first set 7-5. The Scotsman fought back from 0-40 down to hold serve in the first game of the second set. 

Murray broke serve at love in the fourth game to open up a 3-1 lead and hit his 10thace of the match to close out the second set 6-3. 

Murray set up a second round match against Aslan Karatsev, who came back from a set and a break down to beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 in 3 hours and 22 minutes. Arnaldi reached the fourth round at the US Open this year. Karatsev and Arnaldi went on serve in the first set en route to the tie-break. Arnaldi earned the first mini-break to take a 4-3 lead. Karatsev pulled back to draw level to 5-5. Karatsev earned his second mini-break to win the tie-break 7-5. on his fifth set point.

Karatsev saved two break points in the first game of the second set. Arnaldi broke serve in the fourth game to take a 4-3 lead. Karatsev broke straight in the fifth game. Arnaldi went up a second break to take a 5-4 lead earning the chance to serve for the match, but Karatsev pulled back on serve for the second time to draw level to 5-5. Arnaldi went up a mini-break to take a 4-2 lead, but Karatsev won five of the next six points with two mini-breaks to close out the tie-break 7-5. Karatsev broke twice in the first and third games  Arnaldi saved three match points on serve at 1-5, but Karatsev served out the win on his fifth match point. 

Karatsev broke his losing streak of four consecutive defeats against Italian players. 

Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Australian qualifier Luke Saville 6-4 6-4 to set up a quarter final match against Next Gen ATP Czech Dalibor Svrcina 6-4 6-4. 

Australian qualifier Marc Polmans cruised past David Sweeny 6-3 6-1 to set up a quarter final against Cameron Norrie. Polmans has won the sixth match of his career on hard court and his first since the Australian Open 2022. 

Kimmer Coppejans beat Aleksandar Kovacevic 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 to win his first ATP Tourn match. 

Alex Bolt was leading 6-3 4-2 when Diego Schwartzman was forced to withdraw from the match. 

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Roman Safiulin cruises past Brandon Nakashima at the Chengdu Open

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2 days ago

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20/09/2023

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Roman Safiulin cruised past Brandon Nakashima 6-4 6-4 in 88 minutes to reach the second round at the Chengdu Open. 

 

Safiulin hit 22 winners to Nakashima’s 17 and did not face a break point. He broke once in each set. 

“I think the most important thing was to hold my serve and just try to get some break points and try to use them. That was the main goal for the match”, said Saifiulin. 

Safiulin reached his first Grand Slam quarter final at Wimbledon moving up to world number 43 in the ATP Ranking. The Russian player set up a second round match against fourth seed Daniel Evans. 

Corentin Moutet beat Chinese wild card Mu Tao 6-2 6-2. The Frenchman set up either Miomir Kecmanovic or qualifier Benjamin Lock. Moutet earned an early break in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Mu broke straight back to draw level to 2-2. Moutet won the final four games with two breaks to close out the first set 6-2. The Frenchman broke twice in the fifth and seventh games to seal the second set 6-2. 

Taro Daniel came back from one set down to beat Alexander Vukic 4-6 6-2 6-2. Daniel will face either Christopher O’Connell or Alibek Kachmazov. Vukic broke serve in the fourth game of the first set to take a 3-1 lead. Daniel broke back to love in the seventh game and held serve to draw level to 4-4. Vukic broke for the time in the 10th time to win the first set 6-4. 

Daniel broke in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Vukic broke back to draw level to 3-3. Daniel earned a second break in the ninth game to seal the second set 6-2 forcing the match to the decider. Daniel broke twice in the first and seventh games to win the second set 6-2. 

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Caroline Garcia, Victoria Azarenka and Ons Jabeur to reach the Round of 16 at the Guadalajara Open

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2 days ago

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20/09/2023

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Number 3 seed Caroline Garcia saved two match points to beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 at the Guadalajara Open AKRON. 

 

Garcia was a point away from losing to Sasnovich for the first time after five consecutive wins as the world number 89 was serving for the win at 6-4 6-5. 

Garcia fended off a break point in her first service game before earning a decisive break at love at 3-3.

Garcia set up a third round match against Hailey Bapriste, who saved a match point to upset Karolina Pliskova. 

“We saw a few forehands directly in the wall behind the court, but it is what it is. I am very happy with the way I managed to fight at the end of the second set. I lost a little bit my serve at the end of the first set, but I managed to come back. It’s a great win, and I definitely wins”, said Garcia.  

Former world 1 Victoria Azarenka beat Dayana Yastremska 6-4 7-6 (7-5). Azarenka earned a break in the third game to seal the first set 6-4. Yastremska broke serve at love in the second game to open up a 2-0 lead. Azarenka broke straight back in the third game. Yastremska broke for the second time at love in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. Azarenka broke serve for the second time before saving two set points at 5-4 in the second set. Both players traded the mini-break three times in the tie-break. Azarenka earned his fourth mini-break to win the tie-break 7-5. 

Azarenka set up a third round match against Veronika Kudemertova, who won both of their head-to-head matches in Dubai in 2022 and at the Adelaide International 2 in 2023. 

Ons Jabeur cruised past Alycia Parks 6-2 6-2 in 59 minutes to improve her head-to-record against the US record to 3-0. Jabeur had previously beaten Parks in Charleston in 2021 and Berlin in 2022. 

Jabeur is aiming her second WTA 1000 title of her career after winning at the Madrid Mutua Open in 2022. 

Jabeur broke with a passing winner in the first game. Parks made 26 unforced errors in the first set. 

Jabeur earned an early break at love in the first game of the second set. Parks broke back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Jabeur won the next four games to seal the second set 6-2. 

Jabeur converted five of her break points. Parks hit six aces and made seven double faults. 

Jabeur set up a Round of 16 match against Martina Trevisan, who beat Jasmine Paolini 7-5 6-2. The Tunisian player beat Trevisan 6-2 6-2 in Charleston in 2021. 

Maria Sakkari beat Storm Hunter 6-2 6-4 to set up a Round of 16 match against Camila Giorgi. Sakkari leads 3-0 in her previous head-to-head matches against Giorgi. Emma Navarro beat number 4 seed Madison Keys 6-2 7-6 (7-5) to set up a Round of 16 match against Leylah Fernandez.

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