After his impressive 6-2 6-2 victory over Richard Gasquet at the Unicredit Florence Open, Brandon Nakashima spoke exclusively to Ubaldo Scanagatta about the future of American tennis.
The American produced a stunning performance to defeat Richard Gasquet in straight sets to reach the second round in Florence, where he will face Altug Celikbilek.
Nakashima is ranked 46 in the world and is one of American tennis’ biggest prospects with the country enjoying a surge of success in the men’s game. After his victory, the 21 year-old spoke to UbiTennis about conditions in Florence, coming back to Italy and the future of American men’s tennis.
Scanagatta: Not too many problems was quite easy for you, when you were serving you were winning 90%?
Nakashima: Yeah it was a very good match from me. He is a very experienced player on the tour and I knew I had to serve well and return well at the critical points so I think I did that pretty well today and I’m excited to be in the next round.
Scanagatta: Somebody said that this surface is quite slow and some players say that it doesn’t help the great servers but you seem to serve pretty well?
Nakashima: Yeah, I mean you know this surface is a little bit on the slower side but I feel like it suits my game well and I like playing indoors here. So I’m feeling good on the court and you know serving well definitely helps.
Scanagatta: One year ago with UbiTennis we interview you with Steve Flink, you were pretty confident on your future but I’d like to know if one year later you feel you have done better than expected, less than you expected or you are satisfied the way you did?
Nakashima: Yeah you know I’m happy with my progression throughout the last couple of years and you know I think with the coaches I have right now with the team around me, I think we are on the right track so I’m happy with the progression, I think we are heading in a positive way.
Scanagatta: Strangely enough there are five Americans playing the tournament in Florence where most of you have never been before, I’d like to know if you have time to look a little bit at the city or you didn’t? Because you have to practice, the usual stuff.
Nakashima: Yeah we got here a few days early and we were actually able to go one night into the city and walk around a little bit. You know have some good food around there and it’s very beautiful here, it’s my first time and you know anytime where I’m able to come back to Italy, I’m always super excited.
Scanagatta: Did you have some particular memories about one place more than another here or there was one thing that impressed you more or not?
Nakashima: You know, I think just walking along the river at night with all the lights and everything over the bridge, it’s super cool. You can see the history of the city really well so I’m really happy to be here.
Scanagatta: Now you will have to play a Turkish player and did you know him, have you ever seen him playing and what do you expect?
Nakashima: Yeah I’ve seen him play a little bit. I’ve never played him before, you know he’s had a pretty good year this year. And all-round he’s a pretty solid player so I’m going to go into it like any other match and focus on my game and try to play well out there.
Scanagatta: A few years ago people were afraid in America that there were no more good American players, they said only John Isner is surviving the top players. Now there are many, so what is your reaction to the fact that Fritz won a tournament in Japan beating Tiafoe? So a lot of young kids more or less like you are doing very well, so how do you explain it why suddenly there were no Americans before, not too many, and now suddenly there are five, six who are very good including you.
Nakashima: I think the past couple of years we’ve always had the talent in the young Americans and you know it’s really nice to see this year you know all of us doing really well at different tournaments all around the world. We’re constantly improving and building off each other, so I’m really happy with American tennis and I think we’re heading in the right direction.
Scanagatta: Now you don’t have to be too diplomatic but United States is going to play in Davis Cup versus Italy and who do you think is the favourite and who do you think will play for United States, probably Tiafoe and Fritz but maybe you’re going to be there or not?
Nakashima: Yeah, I’m not sure. I think we have a pretty strong team, a lot of great players and I’m sure Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe are going to play really well. It’s going to be exciting to play against Italy, there a really tough team as well with a lot of good players, so it’s going to be really exciting for both teams.
Scanagatta: Who’s Stronger, Berretttini or Sinner?
Nakashima: I don’t know, probably Sinner for me.
