There are five American men ranked in the ATP Top 50.
But Brandon Nakashima shows there is at least a sixth guy worth keeping an eye on.
Nakashima pulled off the biggest upset on the first day of the U.S. Open, scoring a shocking 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 victory over 15th seed Holger Run.
“It's good to see the younger players and the lower ranked players trying and striving to reach new heights,” Nakashima said of the young U.S. players. “I think we all want to be on the list of the top U.S. players, but we're just working hard and of course I wish all the U.S. players the best of luck.”
“I'm looking forward to my next game. It's going to be a tough game whenever I play, but I'll just take it one game at a time. Hopefully I can continue to play at the same level as I did today.”
It will be the second consecutive year that the Loons will suffer a first-round loss at Flushing, but that doesn’t take away from Nakashima’s dominant performance or impressive comeback over the summer.
He has fallen from a career-best ranking of 43rd to outside the top 150 in just six months.
But last October, Nakashima began working under a new coaching staff led by Italian Davide Sanguinetti, a former top 50 player himself who won two ATP Tour titles.
The impact was immediate and obvious.
“They've given me a lot of perspective on everything a player goes through in their career,” Nakashima said, “and a lot of insight through the ups and downs of just continuing to work hard and navigate those moments through the good times and the bad times. But yeah, they've definitely helped me a lot with all aspects of my game and mentally as well.”
Nakashima has four wins over Top 25 opponents this summer, including wins over Arthur Fiss, Sebastian Baez and American Taylor Fritz.
Prior to this season, he had won just four times against players in the ATP Top 20 in his career.
“Yeah, they definitely helped me get my confidence back a lot, off the court and in practice,” Nakashima said.
“Their advice at the beginning of the year was to create a schedule where I would play some challenges and get a lot of wins. Even if it's at a lower level, I can get some wins, move up the rankings a bit and then get back to the ATP tournaments and then it's just a matter of keeping my play consistent.”
