By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday July 23, 2021
19-year-old American Brandon Nakashima saved three match points to edge Australia's Jordan Thompson on Thursday night in Los Cabos.
Photo Source: Getty
19-year-old Brandon Nakashima saved three match points to battle past 27-year-old Jordan Thompson of Australia, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4) on Thursday night at the Mifel Open in Los Cabos.
Nakashima saved the trio of match points from 4-5, 0-40, and proceeded to finish off Thompson in a tiebreaker to set a semifinal clash with second-seeded John Isner.
Isner eased past Aussie Alex Bolt, 6-3, 6-4.
It was a tricky encounter for Nakashima, a San Diego native who had recently qualified for Wimbledon for the first time. The American, a former junior World No.3 and US Open Boys Singles semifinalist, nearly lost the plot in a seesaw third set in which he squandered a break of serve on two occasionsn. But the World No. 134 gathered himself nicely and showed poise as he battled back from the brink against the Aussie.
Nakashima improves to 6-4 lifetime on the ATP Tour with his win. He was the better player through much of the first two sets but began to lose the feel of his forehand late in the second and early in the third.
Thompson, a former World 43, produced an uneven effort from his side of the net, both mentally and tactically, but he began to take the play to Nakashima in the tense third set as he sensed the American might be getting tight. Thompson missed his opportunity when he backed off when he held triple match point, and Nakashima stood tall, taking the initiative and riding his momentum to the finish line.
Three of the four semi-finalists in Los Cabos are American. Taylor Fritz defeated Steve Johnson 6-4 6-4 to set up a top-half semifinal with Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
Norrie improved his career-best win total to 33 on the season with a 6-1 6-1 victory over American Ernesto Escobedo.