Brandon Nakashima continued his impressive form on Friday, knocking out sixth-seeded Taylor Fritz 7-6 (11/9), 4-6, 6-3 to advance to the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters semi-finals. The American, who began his post-Wimbledon hardcourt run with a Washington semi-final, which he lost to Fritz, has now reached his best showing at Cincinnati with the US Open start barely more than a week away.
Nakashima, who also reached the final in the Montreal Masters, withstood 22 aces from Fritz, who also hit 31 unforced errors. Despite trailing a break in the third set, Nakashima broke back to tie it at 3-3 and broke again for a 5-3 lead. He out-hit the powerful Fritz and converted on his first match point with a forehand winner.
"I've gotten a lot of confidence over the summer," Nakashima said. "In the final set I trusted my game, I'm proud with how I ended the match. Today I was trying to hit bigger against him than in Washington, that's what got me through. I've had a pretty good last few weeks, I've spent hours on the court - I'm proud of myself. I now have the opportunity to win more matches."
Nakashima will face either Lorenzo Musetti or Arthur Fils for a place in the final. In the women's quarter-finals, Sara Bejlek backed up her stunning victory over top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, rallying for a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) victory over Madison Keys. The 20-year-old Czech got off to a slow start against the big-hitting American, a former Australian open champion and the 2019 winner in Cincinnati.
Bejlek trailed 0-3 on the way to dropping the first set, but rode a wave of momentum shifts into the final four where she'll face either fourth-seeded Coco Gauff or Marta Kostyuk. Bejlek broke first in the third set only for Keys to battle back and force the tiebreaker, in which Bejlek rallied from 4-2 down on the way to a victory capped by a stinging winner down the line on match point.
"I just kept believing in the match no matter what," said Bejlek, who won the WTA title in Abu Dhabi in February as a wild card. "I believed much more than ever, it was always in my head." After a solid first set the 24th-ranked Keys opened the second on sweltering Stadium Court with a break in the third game, but Bejlek, ranked 35th, broke back in the sixth and held for a 4-3 lead.
