Brandon Nakashima passed his Italian test with flying colours on Thursday, defeating Franceso Passaro 4-3(4), 4-2, 4-1 to reach the semi-finals at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals.
The American won his opening two Green Group matches in Milan, but knew a straight-sets defeat against Passaro would see him bundled out of the tournament at the expense of the 21-year-old.
However, as he has done throughout the season, Nakashima produced a resilient performance, overcoming Passaro and the crowd at the Allianz Cloud to secure victory after 61 minutes.
“I know he has had a great year this year. I thought my level was really high today,” Nakashima said. “It was nice to see it carrying over from yesterday. To come out and play like that was super special.”
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The 21-year-old’s win means he tops Green Group and will face either Lorenzo Musetti or Jack Draper in the semi-finals on Friday. Runner-up Jiri Lehecka will face Red Group winner Dominic Stricker. In an impressive performance, Nakashima blasted 17 winners and saved the one break point he faced to finish the round-robin stage with a 3-0 record.
Nakashima has now earned 33 tour-level wins this season. The World No. 49, who advanced to the semi-finals on debut in Milan last year, lifted his first tour-level trophy in San Diego in September.