Brandon Nakashima saved three match points and continued his rise with an upset of former Cincinnati champion Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday.

Chris OddoAugust 18, 20262 minute read

Brandon Nakashima has always had the promise. The burly game, the laser backhand and booming serve, but until this year, he really didn’t have the big wins. 

That seems to be changing. 

The 25-year-old San Diego native, fresh off his biggest career final at the Canadian Masters last week in Montreal, continued his surge on Tuesday in Cincinnati with a gut-check effort against former world No.1 Daniil Medvedev. 

Nakashima saved three match points late in the second set, while serving at 4-5, 0-40, and went on to force a decider by winning a dominant tiebreak. 

“Down match points, I was just trying to tell myself to keep fighting for every point,” Nakashima said in his on-court interview after clinching the 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 6-1 triumph. “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.” 

It was an entertaining tilt that also saw Nakashima hold a set point in the opening set, serving at 5-3. He couldn’t close, was broken, and dropped the first set in a breaker.

The world No.22 dominated the 2019 Cincinnati champion, who became increasingly frustrated, took a chunk out of the tournament’s LED screen and toppled a few boom mics to no avail, as Nakashima ran away with the final set for his third Top 10 win of the summer, and fifth of his career. 

Nakashima is the third man to earn 20 hard court wins on tour in 2026, and he’ll face Nuno Borges in the round of 16. 

Medvedev drops to 31-14 on the season. He played well at times, but couldn’t secure victory when he had his chances, and saw his level trail off late.