The youth of tennis have a new prince: Brandon Nakashima
The youth of tennis have a new prince: Brandon Nakashima
Brandon Nakashima of the United States, world number 49, is the new champion of the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen Atp Finals. In the final played at the Allianz Cloud Arena in Milan, Nakashima beat Czech Jiri Lehecka 43 (5) 43 (6) 42. “I’m happy,” Nakashima said after the match, “to be the first American to win the tournament. It was an incredible week, I was able to play at a high level on a surface that enhanced my game. I bid farewell to Milan and this wonderful crowd to return home with the trophy and enjoy some well-deserved rest.”
Nakashima, 21, of San Diego, repeated his success over Lehecka last Wednesday, when he overcame his rival on the second day of the round robin. This time Nakashima suffered badly at the start, mainly because of the few first serves he scored and the difficulty in reading the Czech’s serve. Lehecka served on 3-2 coming 4 times within two points of the set; but from 30-0 onwards Nakashima took command of operations and with a partial 9 points to nil went ahead 5-0 in the tie-break. The Czech recovered to 5-3, cancelled two set points from 6-3 to 6-5, before surrendering the fraction 7 points to 5.
The second set also began under the banner of Lehecka, who had two 2-0 break points, but more like two consecutive set points in the tie-break. But again, Nakashima turned the tide by winning the last 4 points of the set. In the third set, Lehecka let up and the U.S. only needed a break in the sixth game to take home the coveted trophy on the first match point after one hour and 19 minutes.
Nakashima succeeds in the roll of honor Korean Hyeon Chung (2017), Stefanos Tsitsipas (2018), Jannik Sinner (2019) and Carlos Alcaraz, the current Atp number one ranked player who won the 2021 edition.
To the winner went a prize of $432,750, the highest ever in the U.S. player’s career.
Total paying spectator attendance at the Allianz Cloud over the five days of the tournament was 21,424.
