Former Cavalier Brandon Nakashima Defeats No. 19 John Isner at the US Open

Former Virginia Cavalier tennis star Brandon Nakashima defeated No. 19-seed John Isner in the first round of the US Open on Monday afternoon.

Nakashima, who turned 20 earlier this month, beat Isner in straight sets 7-6, 7-6, 6-3, to advance to the second round of the US Open for the second consecutive year.

Nakashima spent just one semester at UVA in the spring of 2019, turning in a record of 17-5 in singles and 20-3 in doubles. He was named ACC Freshman of the Year and was the only freshman to make the All-ACC First Team in 2019. Nakashima turned professional after the 2019 season.

Isner, 36, has been ranked as high as No. 8 in the world with 16 career singles titles and is currently the No. 22 player in the world.

The first two sets of Monday’s first round match against John Isner went to a 6-6 tiebreak, with Nakashima prevailing 9-7 in the first set tiebreak, and 8-6 in the second tiebreak to take a commanding 2-0 set advantage.

In the third set, Nakashima broke Isner’s serve early and rolled to a 6-3 set win to claim the match and the biggest victory in the young tennis career of Brandon Nakashima.

Nakashima will look to keep this run going against the winner of Alex Molcan (Slovokia) and Cem Ilkel (Turkey) in the second round.