Nakashima sinks Rublev in Barcelona upset

Brandon Nakashima held firm for a clay-court breakthrough Tuesday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

The 22-year-old American sunk World No. 8 Andrey Rublev 6-4. 7-6(6) at the ATP 500 for the second Top 10 win of his career, and his first on clay. Nakashima delivered a rock-solid serving performance to seal a one-hour, 53-minute win — the No. 87 in the PIF ATP Rankings won 80 per cent (33/41) of points behind his first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“I’m still out here competing as hard as I can,” said Nakashima, who reached a career-high of World No. 43 in 2022. “I’m happy with getting my level back to where it was. Playing in front of these crowds and on this court was super special.”

BIG from Brandon 🇺🇸

A first Top 10 win on clay as @b_nakashima ousts Rublev 6-4, 7-6(6)@bcnopenbs | #BCNOpenBS pic.twitter.com/nuaSdMROhe

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 16, 2024

Nakashima’s only previous win in seven previous Lexus ATP Head2Head clashes with Top 10 players came against Holger Rune in Shanghai last October. He was only able to convert one of nine break points he carved out against Rublev, but held his nerve in the second-set tie-break to seal victory.

“I served and returned well," said Nakashima. "I got myself a lot of opportunities on his serve and also was controlling a lot with my backhand crosscourt to his backhand. I was also mixing it up with some slices and drop shots. I think that’s very important.”

Nakashima, who reached a quarter-final on clay in Houston two weeks ago, will take on 13th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry or qualifier Nick Hardt in the third round in Spain. The 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF champion is now 5-3 for the season at tour-level, having also racked up a 19-5 record on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Nakashima’s only previous win in seven previous Lexus ATP Head2Head clashes with Top 10 players came against Holger Rune in Shanghai last October. He was only able to convert one of nine break points he carved out against Rublev, but held his nerve in the second-set tie-break to seal victory.

In other second-round action, Facundo Diaz Acosta also upset a seeded opponent. The Argentine beat 15th seed Borna Coric 6-2, 7-5 for his first Top 50 win outside of his hometown Buenos Aires, where he lifted his maiden ATP Tour trophy in February. Diaz Acosta next plays Fabian Marozsan or #NextGenATP Luca Van Assche, who kick-started his Barcelona campaign with a 7-5, 6-2 triumph against Zhang Zhizhen.

Van Assche’s fellow #NextGenATP star Shang Juncheng was unable to join the Frenchman in the second round. Tomas Machac overcame the Chinese 6-4, 6-4 to set a meeting with 11th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Home favourites Roberto Carballes Baena and Jaume Munar earned convincing wins to begin their Barcelona campaigns. Carballes Baena beat Hugo Grenier 6-2, 6-4, while Munar eased past Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-1.