ATP Tour

Nakashima upsets De Minaur, Fritz saves MP vs. Michelsen in Washington

One year ago, Alex de Minaur ousted Brandon Nakashima in straight sets in the Washington quarter-finals en route to the ATP 500 title. On Friday afternoon, Nakashima earned his revenge.

The American upset the defending champion 7-6(5), 6-4 in one hour and 55 minutes to reach the semi-finals of the Mubadala DC Open for the first time.

Nakashima always found an answer for the questions De Minaur posed in the match and proved clutch under pressure, saving six of the seven break points he faced according to Infosys ATP Stats. The home favourite now leads the Australian 3-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, including a victory less than two months ago at Queen’s Club.

"He [De Minaur] is a very quick and explosive player," Nakashima said. "You're going to expect a lot of long rallies. So, I knew I had to serve well at the crucial moments and try to be aggressive and stay close to the baseline on my side as much as possible."

De Minaur missed a forehand approach shot long at 4-4 in the second set to relinquish the critical service break. And despite making a push to get back on terms in the next game, the top seed missed a forehand long on break point.

Nakashima, who won 83 per cent of his first-serve points, advanced to his fourth ATP 500 semi-final and moved to within two victories of claiming his first trophy at the level. Next up will be third seed Taylor Fritz.

"Super happy with the match today," Nakashima said. "It was pretty physical out there. So, yeah, I was happy to close it out in two sets. Yeah, looking forward to the next one."

Fritz survived a scare Friday afternoon in Washington, where he saved one match point to rally past Alex Michelsen 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(6) for a place in the last four at the ATP 500 event.

The American crucially saved two break points at 5-5, 30/40 and Ad/40 in the third set, then one match point at 5/6 in the third-set tie-break when Michelsen misfired a return off Fritz’s second serve. The third seed eventually sealed the victory in two hours and 18 minutes.

“I tried to just do what I felt like I could do and not overplay,” Fritz said. “In the third-set tie-break I didn’t play as well as I would have liked to. I would have understood why I would have lost. Didn’t make enough first serves. Some of the chances where I could have been aggressive, I wasn’t. Definitely could have done better.”

Watch Fritz edge Michelsen in Washington QFs:

Early in the third set, Fritz appeared to tweak his left knee while chasing a backhand and received a medical timeout at 2-2. Despite the injury scare, Fritz continued to hold firm in the crucial moments and improved to 1-2 in his rivalry with Michelsen. The 28-year-old is now into his first semi-final in the American capital since 2023 and his fourth semi-final of the season.

“It was my left knee,” Fritz shared. “I kind of jammed it. The ball went behind me. I slid into a corner. It’s a sharp pain. I don’t know how to describe it. It can go away pretty quickly. But if I didn't call the trainer at that moment, I would have been broken that game.”