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The dream run continued for Brandon Nakashima as the American outclassed sixth-seed Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals of the ongoing Cincinnati Open on Friday.
In a serve-dominated clash, Nakashima beat Fritz 7-6(9), 4-6, 6-3 in an exciting clash where a decider was enforced by Fritz. The 25-year-old won the last four games on the trot to seal a win in two hours and 13 minutes, reaching his first-ever Cincinnati semifinals and back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 semifinals, as per ATP's official website. Fritz had beaten Nakashima in the Dallas final back in February and then in the Washington semifinal just three weeks back, but now the tables have turned on Fritz, who was eyeing his first Masters 1000 title since his Indian Wells title back in 2022. Now, Nakashima has a tour-leading 22 wins on hard courts this season. After the match, he said, "Just getting a lot of confidence from all the matches I have been playing. When it came down to the wire in the third set, just tried to trust my game fully, and I am really proud of how I ended the match." "In the match in Washington against Fritz, I felt like from the baseline I was not playing that well. Today I was trying to hit the forehand a little bigger and tried staying solid on the backhand, and I think that is what got me through," he added. With this win, Nakashima could reach a career-high number 16 ranking in the ATP Rankings and would face compatriot Frances Tiafoe in the semifinals. Tiafoe came out on top against Lorenzo Musetti in an entertaining clash on Friday, beating him 7-6(2), 7-5 in two hours and 17 minutes. (ANI)
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