Nakashima ousts defending champion De Minaur to reach Washington semi-finals

Brandon Nakashima beat top seed and defending champion Alex de Minaur of Australia 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Mubadala DC Open for the first time. The American, ranked No. 33, will face the winner of No. 3 seed Taylor Fritz and Alex Michelsen next.

Nakashima has been in red-hot form through the week, following up a three-set win over No. 7 seed Jakub Mensik (7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4) and a straight-sets victory over Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry (6-3, 6-4) with Friday’s win over De Minaur. The victory was his fourth career top-10 win, and the second specifically against De Minaur, and put him into his fourth semi-final of the 2026 season.

De Minaur, ranked No. 6, had beaten Cruz Hewitt (6-2, 6-3) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (6-4, 3-6, 6-3) to reach the quarter-finals, but the loss of ranking points as defending champion means he will drop to at least No. 7 in the world regardless of how the rest of the tournament unfolds.

Nakashima arrives in the final four in Washington fresh off a title run at UTS Rio, continuing a season in which he has quietly built a reputation as one of the tour’s more underrated performers.