San Diego’s Brandon Nakashima upsets John Isner in first round of U.S. Open

The faded fortunes of elite American men tennis players got an emphatic jolt on Monday when Brandon Nakashima of San Diego, a wild-card entrant at the U.S. Open, upset No. 19 seed John Isner, the highest-ranked American man in the world.

Nakashima, who is ranked 84th in the world, played well in crucial situations as he won tiebreakers in each of the first two sets and pulled away in the third. He cashed in on his first match point to clinch a 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory before an appreciative crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

No American man has won a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick won the U.S. Open in 2003. Nakashima was barely 2 years old then; he’s now 20.

Nakashima committed 16 unforced errors, to 28 by Isner. Nakashima made 32 forced errors, to 50 by Isner.

Isner is ranked 22nd in the world, the highest of any American man. He and Nakashima had split a pair of matches recently, with Isner winning in Atlanta and Nakashima winning in Los Cabos, Mexico.

“It was another tough match against John,” Nakashima said during on on-court interview after the match. “We both know each other really well….A couple of crucial points in the tiebreaker I got lucky.”

He also said he enjoyed fans’ support. Nakashima made his U.S. Open debut last year, when fans were prohibited from attending matches because of COVID-19 concerns. He lost in the second round to Alexander Zverev.