Brandon Nakashima sets all-American final with Giron at San Diego

American Brandon Nakashima, the No 5 seed, won against Australian Christopher O’Connell 6-4, 7-6 (3) to reach the final of the San Diego Open at the Barnes Tennis Centre on Saturday night.

Nakashima, ranked No 69, will face American Marcos Giron, the No 3 seed, next.

The winner will become the ATP’s 11th first-time titlist of 2022.

In their only previous meeting, Nakashima defeated Giron in three sets at the Indian Wells challenger, in 2020.

ATP TOUR, FIRST-TIME WINNERS, 2022 (AGE, EVENT)

• Thanasi Kokkinakis 25, Adelaide-2 
• Alexander Bublik 24, Montpellier 
• Felix Auger-Aliassime 21, Rotterdam 
• Pedro Martinez 24, Santiago 
• Holger Rune 19, Munich 
• Sebastian Baez 21, Estoril 
• Tim van Rijthoven 25, ‘s-Hertogenbosch 
• Francisco Cerundolo 23, Bastad 
• Maxime Cressy 24, Newport 
• Lorenzo Musetti 20, Hamburg

Nakashima, 21, is into his third ATP final. He hit seven aces and won 80 percent of his first-serve points to improve to 25-19 on the season.

Ahead of his victory, the 21-year-old American defeated wildcard Zachary Svajda (7-5, 7-6 (5)), Denis Kudla (6-3, 6-4) and Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan (6-3, 4-6, 6-4).

O’Connell, ranked No 130, beat Jason Kubler (4-6, 6-3 ret.), American J.J. Wolf, the No 8 seed (6-3, 7-5) and American Jenson Brooksby, the second seed (6-4, 4-6, 7-5) in the previous rounds of the San Diego.

San Diego ATP 250, other semi-final result (Barnes Tennis Centre, hard, USD 612.000):

• Marcos Giron beat Daniel Evans (1): 6-3, 7-5

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American Marcos Giron stops top-seeded Dan Evans in San Diego for first ATP final

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