With a 14-match winning streak coming into the match, former World No. 1 Medvedev will present a challenging second-round test.
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Brandon Nakashima defeated John Isner 7-6(7), 6-3 on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open first round. He now faces fifth seed Daniil Medvedev. The 21-year-old American, who won the opening round at Indian Wells in 2021 and 2022, saved one set point in the first-set tie-break before putting on a strong defensive performance to thwart his big-serving countryman’s attack in the second set. When returning the first serve, Nakashima took a position far behind the baseline. However, when Isner delivered his second serve, the Japanese-American player looked to attack and timed the ball well to win 56% of the points on Isner’s serves.
“You know you are going to get some opportunities out there,” Nakashima said. “You know he is going to hit some big bombs once in a while. But you always go into it knowning you will have some opportunities. You just got to see them when they come and capitalise on them. This tournament is one of the tournaments I used to always to come to as a kid. It is super nice to feel at home here and have all my family and friends come out in support.”
Nakashima closed his 2022 campaign by winning the Next Gen ATP Finals championship. however, he has only achieved two wins at the tour level this year as he has struggled to find his best form. With a 14-match winning streak coming into the match, former World No. 1 Medvedev will present a challenging second-round test.
In the round of 128 of the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday, Jiri Lehecka defeated Arthur Rinderknech in a hard-fought match to earn his first ATP Masters 1000 victory. The 21-year-old Czech, who had qualified for Monte Carlo the previous season, won 7-6(4), 7-5 in his second appearance at the ATP 1000 level. In the second round, the third ATP Head2Head meeting between the two will be against sixth seed Andrey Rublev. Both of their previous meetings went to three sets, with Rublev winning in Belgrade in April of last year and Lehecka doing the same in Doha last month.
In the first set, Lehecka twice overcame a break deficit before saving two set points on serve at 5-6. Despite his French opponent tying the second set at 4-4, he never trailed in the tie-break and jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the second. On his seventh break point, Lehecka broke for the fourth time in the match to secure the victory. With a strong start to 2023, highlighted by a breakout run to the Australian Open quarterfinals, the Serbian has followed up his second-place finish at the Next Gen ATP Finals in November with another strong performance. In Doha, he also advanced to the semifinals before falling to Andy Murray.
