NextGen Champion Brandon Nakashima - what to expect from him in 2023?
Brandon Nakashima has used his last chance to lift the title at the Milan U-21 Festival. A rise like that of his predecessor Carlos Alcaraz is not to be expected.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Nov 13, 2022, 07:30 pm
So Brandon Nakashima has succeeded Carlos Alcaraz, at least as champion at the #NextGen Finals in Milan. Alcaraz would have qualified again this year (of course), but if his abs hadn't pinched him, he would have played at the ATP Finals in Turin. Can we now expect such a development from Brandon Nakashima?
Probably not. The 21-year-old American will end the year among the top 50 players in the world, a remarkable achievement. The first tournament victory on the tour came in his native San Diego, where Nakashima - no reproach - used a very sympathetic draw in his favor. Final opponent Marcos Giron was number 58, the highest of five opponents in southern California.
Nakashima used to tour with Pat Cash
But where Nakashima stands in comparison to the absolute best in the world, that's what he was shown by Alexander Zverev in Roland Garros. Not the American's favorite surface, of course, but Zverev mercilessly pointed out the weaknesses of the newly crowned #NextGen champion: Nakashima simply has no weapons to make the point against a man with a solid defense. With Carlos Alcaraz, however, you don't even know where to start in this regard.
But of course Alcaraz is the exception to the rule that says the march through the institutions on the ATP tour is a long and arduous one. And that's why you have to watch out for Brandon Nakashima in the coming season, who a few years ago was coached by Pat Cash through the European challengers. Because none of the winners of Milan have gone downhill. See also the examples Stefanos Tsitsipas or Jannik Sinner.