SAN DIEGO (AP) — Fifth-seeded Brandon Nakashima beat fellow San Diegan Zachary Svajda 7-5, 7-6 (5) in their opening-round match Tuesday night in the San Diego Open ATP 250.
The 69th-ranked Nakashima continues to build on a summer that has seen him reach the Round of 16 at Wimbledon and the third round at the US Open.
“It was a very tough match right from the beginning,” said Nakashima, who saved three set points in the second set. “Zach is so talented, striking the ball really well. We’re good friends off the court. We practice a lot together here in San Diego, so I knew it was going to be a tough match today. I was just lucky to grab a few points at the end of each set.”
Next up for Nakashima is Denis Kudla, who beat 38-year-old wildcard Fernando Verdasco of Spain, 6-3, 6-3.
Mitchell Kreuger prevailed in a matchup of qualifiers when he ousted Christopher Eubanks, 6-4, 6-4, in their first tour-level encounter.
Taro Daniel of Japan snapped a four-match skid, moving into the second round with a 6-4, 6-3 victory against 20-year-old Emilio Nava of Woodland Hills.