Nakashima completes remarkable comeback to stun Fritz and reach back-to-back Masters semi-finals
Brandon Nakashima’s remarkable summer turnaround continued as he fought back from a break down to stun Taylor Fritz (7-6 (9), 4-6, 6-3) and reach back-to-back Masters 1000 semi-finals.
Brandon Nakashima, Cincinnati 2026 | © Pam Smith /Wick Photography for Cincinnati Open
American Brandon Nakashima, the No 27 seed, fought back from a break down in the third set to beat No 6 seed Taylor Fritz 7-6 (9), 4-6, 6-3, and reach the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open on Friday evening, in a match that lasted two hours and 13 minutes.
Nakashima will next face the winner of the match between Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the No 10 seed, and American Frances Tiafoe, the No 17 seed. He is guaranteed to reach a new career-high ranking of No. 16 on Monday.
Fritz dominated the first set statistically without ever finding a break – 14 aces to five, 81 percent of points won on his own serve to Nakashima’s 70. His level dropped sharply only in the tiebreak, where Nakashima closed it out 11-9 after 13 minutes to steal a set in which he had trailed in almost every category.
Fritz hit back by breaking serve in a marathon third game, saving two break points of his own before converting his third to lead 2-1, and served out the set 6-4 without dropping serve again.
Nakashima was broken to open the decider, slipping to 2-3 down, but broke back immediately in another lengthy deuce game to level at 3-3. He broke a second time for 5-3 and served out the match at love-15 to complete the turnaround. For all his first-set dominance, Fritz still finished with the better share of unreturned serves across the full match, 46 percent to 41 – a measure of how few chances Nakashima was given, and how well he made the ones he had count.
Nakashima came into the match trailing Fritz 4-1 in their head-to-head and leaves with it at 4-2. The win was his fourth over a top-10 player this season (including No 4 seed Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-1) and the sixth of his career, and it sends him into back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 semi-finals following his run to the final in Montreal last week: a remarkable turnaround for a player who was 0-5 in Masters 1000 fourth rounds before that streak began.
Cincinnati Masters 1000 quarter finals
- F. Cobolli (7) d. T.Paul (18): 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
- A. Fils (21) d. T. Tirante: 6-3, 6-2
- B. Nakashima d. T. Fritz (6): 7-6, 3-6, 6-4
- L. Musetti (10) vs F. Tiafoe (17): Friday
