Nakashima defeats defending champion de Minaur to reach Washington semi-finals
Nakashima Advances in Washington
Brandon Nakashima has secured a spot in the semi-finals of the Mubadala DC Open, defeating top-seeded and defending champion Alex de Minaur. The American player won the quarter-final match with a score of 7-6, 6-4. This victory marks Nakashima’s first time reaching the semi-finals at the Washington tournament.
De Minaur, ranked world number six, was eliminated in a rematch of last year’s Washington quarter-final. Nakashima, currently ranked world number 33, will proceed to a Saturday semi-final. His next opponent will be the winner of the match between Taylor Fritz, ranked 10th, and Alex Michelsen, ranked 40th.
The match lasted one hour and 54 minutes. Nakashima never trailed de Minaur in the tie-break of the first set, securing it with his eighth of 10 aces. In the second set, Nakashima broke de Minaur in the ninth game and then held serve with a service winner to close out the match.
Performance and Tournament Impact
Nakashima’s performance against de Minaur included 31 winners compared to de Minaur’s 22. He also saved six of the seven break points he faced. This win improves Nakashima’s head-to-head record against de Minaur to 3-1, which includes a triumph in a Queen’s quarter-final in June.
This victory is Nakashima’s fourth career win against a top-10 ranked player, with two of these wins specifically against de Minaur. It also marks his fourth semi-final appearance of the 2026 season. Nakashima’s only previous ATP title was won in San Diego in 2022.
De Minaur had reached the quarter-finals after defeating Cruz Hewitt 6-2, 6-3 and Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. However, the loss of ranking points as the defending champion means de Minaur is projected to drop to at least world number seven, regardless of the remaining tournament outcomes.
Nakashima’s journey to the semi-finals in Washington follows a recent title run at UTS Rio. His strong form this week has also included a three-set win over seventh-seeded Jakub Mensik (7-6, 3-6, 6-4) and a straight-sets victory against Tomas Martin Etcheverry (6-3, 6-4).
Other Matches and Upcoming Fixtures
In the women’s draw, top seed Jessica Pegula also advanced to the semi-finals. Pegula, ranked world number three, defeated 20th-ranked Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 7-5. This marks Pegula’s sixth WTA semi-final appearance of the year.
Pegula, who won her first career WTA title in Washington in 2019, will face the winner of the match between Diana Shnaider and Liudmila Samsonova on Saturday for a place in Sunday’s final. Pegula is seeking her 12th career WTA crown and third of the year, having previously won titles in Dubai and Charleston.
During her match against Kalinskaya, Pegula fired 24 winners against 17 unforced errors and served six aces. She led 2-1 in the first set when Kalinskaya took a medical timeout. Pegula then broke in the fourth game and held serve to win the first set in 37 minutes.
In the second set, Pegula was serving for the match but faced her first break points, falling behind 0-40. She saved three but a backhand error on the fourth break point leveled the set at 5-5. Kalinskaya then double-faulted for the third time in the 11th game, giving Pegula the break back. Pegula then held serve at love to secure the victory after 75 minutes, marking her fifth win in six career matches against Kalinskaya.
Other later women’s quarter-finals included third-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan against Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy, and second-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine facing Alexandra Eala of the Philippines. Men’s quarter-finals also featured American Ben Shelton, ranked world number eight, against Alejandro Tabilo of Chile, and Italy’s 15th-ranked Lorenzo Musetti against 24th-ranked Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar.
The upcoming semi-final matches are scheduled for Saturday.
Source: hindustantimes.com
