By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday June 24, 2021
American Brandon Nakashima booked his spot in the Wimbledon main draw for the first time on Thursday.
Photo: World Team Tennis
The love affair with grass started three years ago for rising American Brandon Nakashima, and it continues in 2021 as the 19-year-old has booked his spot in the main draw at Wimbledon, thanks to a qualifying run that featured top-notch returning, squeaky clean stat lines and two victories over former top-15 players.
Nakashima, a former junior No.3 who played a season collegiately at the University of Virginia, won the Grade 1 ITF title in his first appearance on grass in 2018 at Roehampton, and says he instantly recognized at that moment that grass could be a surface that works for him.
"I definitely like it a lot," he told Tennis Now after his 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 victory over former World No.10 Ernests Gulbis on Thursday. "I played on it in Roehampton when I was in the juniors, that was the first time I ever played on grass, coming here in 2018, and I ended up winning that tournament so obviously I fell in love with it right away, and knew my game was suited well for the grass, and I was always looking forward to the grass-court season this year to come and play on these grass courts."
Nakashima broke the Latvian six times on Thursday, bringing his total of service breaks to 15 for three rounds of qualifying—an impressive number on the grass. The San Diego native says the return has always been a shot that comes natural to him.
"I mean growing up in juniors I've always known that my return was the shot suited to my game,” he said. “It definitely helps, especially on these grass courts, and also against these big serves, to first get the return back and created those opportunities, those break points, to keep the pressure on them and make them come up with big shots."
Nakashima is a crafty player with a high tennis IQ who relies on his courtcraft and his timing to pressure opponents. The World No. 138, who also defeated former World No.12 Viktor Troicki in the second round of qualifying at Wimbledon, says he enjoys using the whole court and finds that the pace of play on grass allows him to play the angles even more.
"I like to play fast from the baseline and it definitely helps on these grass courts here, to redirect the ball a lot, into the open space,” he said.
Though he is still very much a work in progress at the tour-level, with just six ATP matches under his belt and only two at the Grand Slams (he reached the second round at last year's US Open on his Grand Slam main draw debut), Nakashima is soaking up every experience he can get on tour, and he’ll no doubt embrace his Wimbledon debut when it comes next week with the same positive outlook.
Counting challengers and qualifiers, he has won 21 matches and lost 14 in 2021, including a challenger title in France this winter. He lost his only ATP-level match to Frances Tiafoe in three sets after qualifying for Acapulco in March, to bring his career record to 3-3 on tour.
"Like all tennis players actually you are going to go through ups and downs throughout the year, you are going to play well at some tournaments and other tournaments you are not going to feel as comfortable or confident, and during those tough times you just have to keep your head up and stick to the process and trust your game as much as possible,” he said, adding: “And obviously learn from those moments, too. For me that was big, not only winning that challenger at the beginning of the year, but also the last couple of months where I haven't been making any good results, obviously it taught me a lot about my game, I learned a lot, and I think it has helped me grow as a player to prepare for those moments."
Men’s Qualifying Set – Two Americans Join Nakashimi in Main Draw
Compatriots Mackenzie McDonald and Denis Kudla will join Nakashima in the main draw after completing their qualifying runs on Thursday at Roehampton. McDonald defeated fellow American and UCLA alumni Maxime Cressy, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, while Kudla eased past Italy's Federico Gaio, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4.
Also among successful qualifiers is Zhang Zhizhen, the first ATP player from China to play the Wimbledon main draw in the Open Era. Zhang, ranked 178, topped Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in the final round of qualifying on Thursday, 6-0, 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(6).
All 16 men's singles qualifiers are listed below: