ATP Tour

Brandon from the brink! Nakashima saves 3 MPs, topples Medvedev in Cincinnati

Brandon Nakashima saved three match points to continue his scintillating run through the North American hard-court swing on Tuesday, when he overcame Daniil Medvedev 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-1 to reach the fourth round of the Cincinnati Open.

Trailing 0/40 at 4-5 while serving in the second set, Nakashima appeared on the brink of seeing his run at the ATP Masters 1000 event come to an end. Instead, the in-form American responded with composed ballstriking and a fearless attitude, turning the momentum against former Cincinnati champion Medvedev before completing a two-hour, 51-minute victory.

Nakashima arrived in Ohio fresh from a breakthrough run to his first Masters 1000 final in Montreal last week, having also reached the semi-finals in Washington earlier this month. The 25-year-old is competing at a career-high No. 22 in the PIF ATP Rankings and, with his latest victory, he moved level with Medvedev for the second-most hard-court wins on Tour this season with 20. Only Jakub Mensik, with 21, has more.

“Down match points, I was just trying to tell myself to keep fighting for every point,” Nakashima said in his on-court interview. “If he’s able to close it out there, then too good. I just kept fighting and managed to get it to a third set. I’m super happy with the level in the third.”

Nakashima saved his first match point with a cleverly constructed forehand approach and volley finish before outlasting Medvedev in an 18-ball exchange to deny the second. The American then erased the third with a well-executed serve-and-volley play, an aggressive approach that he used en route to his fifth career win against a Top-10 opponent.

“Throughout these matches, there’s always ups and downs, times where I’m not feeling as good, but I just try to stick through every moment and keep fighting,” Nakashima added.

Watch Nakashima's match-point saves:

Nakashima will next face Nuno Borges, who ended a five-match Lexus ATP Head2Head losing streak against Andrey Rublev with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the 13th seed. Borges had won just one set in his previous five meetings with Rublev, but produced an ultra-clean performance to reach the fourth round of a Masters 1000 for the sixth time, still seeking his first win at that stage.

Elsewhere in Ohio, Taylor Fritz extended his winning streak on American soil to seven matches with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against rising Spaniard Daniel Merida. The 28-year-old, who lifted the trophy at the ATP 500 event in Washington earlier this month, has now reached the Round of 16 in Cincinnati for the fourth time in the past five years. He will next meet Australian qualifier Christopher O’Connell.