Brandon Nakashima was having the season of his young career. The 18 year-old American started the year at World No. 367 and was already up to World No. 220. Nakashima's 147-spot rise in less than three months was already approaching how far he climbed up the rankings during the 2019 season. In 2019, Nakashima went from World No. 527 to World No. 367.
Nakashima had beaten some very good competition during this time. In 2020 alone, Nakashima has taken down players such as Ryan Harrison, Bernard Tomic, Jiri Vesely, and Cameron Norrie.
Then, the coronavirus pandemic shut down the world. It would certainly be understandable if Nakashima got down on himself due to the timing of the pandemic. Here he was in the midst of his breakthrough and a nearly unprecedented viral outbreak brought his momentum to a halt. Would the American be able to sustain his high quality of play when tennis resumed?
Well, based on how he has played during exhibition events that he has competed in during the pandemic, the answer to that question is yes. Combining his matches during the Matchplay 120 and U.S. Men's Pro Tennis Series exhibitions, Nakashima is currently 7-0. He has a 14-1 record in sets played.
Nakashima has played and taken down two top 65 players during this time in Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey. Last night, Querrey took the first set against Nakashima and had three break points on the Nakashima serve in his first service game of the second set. Yet, Nakashima did not panic, held, and then eventually took the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
So, what makes Nakashima's game so tough to beat? The American has good power on both his serve and groundstrokes. Yet, it rarely feels like he is overhitting, as Nakashima has a high level of control over his game. Nakashima's backhand especially cuts through the court so well, making it very tough for opponents to handle.
Nakashima's return game is also very solid. He has not been phased by big servers such as Querrey, Vesely, or Martin Redlicki. Nakashima truly does not have many weaknesses in his game.
Yet, that doesn't mean that Nakashima is a perfect tennis player. For starters, I would love to see the American move to the net behind his powerful groundstrokes. Perhaps he isn't totally comfortable at the net yet, but it would be great to see him move forward more.
In addition, it would be great to see Nakashima diversify what surfaces he is playing on. If I am reading this right, it looks like the American has never played a professional match off of a hard court in his career, so far.
As so much of professional tennis takes places off of hard courts, it is very important that Nakashima gets more experience on clay courts especially. While I'm confident he would have at least played the United States green clay court Challengers and Roland Garros qualifying if this was a normal season, it is still a noticeable gap on his resume.
Point construction on clay, and grass for that matter, is much different than on a hard court and he will have to get used to different styles of play at the professional level. In addition, clay is a more physical surface than hard, so that will also be an adjustment for Nakashima at the professional level.
Yet, I can't help but be excited about Nakashima's future on the ATP Tour and the recent exhibition events have only added to my enthusiasm. The fact that Nakashima was able to easily pick up where he left off and dismantle opponents is a testament to both his talent and the work he put in during the early portion of the pandemic where exhibitions weren't possible for most of the world.
This smooth transition is especially prominent when one sees other pros struggle with consistency in their return to tennis.
But, the future isn't certain. Both in terms of where Nakashima will go from here and in terms of pro tennis as a sport. Will Nakashima be able to play qualifying or receive a wild card into the US Open? Will the US Open even happen at all? Who knows.
Yet, out of every young prospect outside of the top 100, I truly believe none have as high of a ceiling as Brandon Nakashima.
It's up to Nakashima whether or not he lives up to his potential.
