Brandon Nakashima def. Nuno Borges | Masters 1000 Cincinnati (Hard) Match Stats

Brandon Nakashima def. Nuno Borges | Masters 1000 Cincinnati (Hard) Match Stats | TennisRaptor

Nakashima fires 27 aces to edge Borges in Cincinnati last 16

Brandon Nakashima needed three sets to get past Nuno Borges in the Cincinnati Round of 16, taking it 6-3 6-7 6-3 after the Portuguese forced a decider in a second-set tiebreak. The American's serve was the difference: 27 aces against just three double faults, and 84.1 percent of points won behind a first delivery that landed 60 percent of the time. Borges served solidly too, with eight aces and 72.9 percent won on first serve, but he could not match that ceiling. Nakashima's reward was a place in the quarter-finals at a Masters 1000 event.

Masters 1000 Cincinnati (Hard)

Brandon Nakashima

#22

WINNER

6-36-76-3

Nuno Borges

#47

LOSS

Aces

vs 27

Winners

vs 39

vs 36

46%

Pts Won

94/203

60%

1st Serve %

60%

73% (43/59)

1st Serve Points Won

83% (53/64)

51% (20/39)

2nd Serve Points Won

49% (21/43)

7/9

Break Points Saved

4/4

0/4

Break Points Converted

2/9

Winners

Unforced Errors

80% (8/10)

Net Points Won

71% (10/14)

64% (63/98)

Service Points Won

70% (74/105)

25% (16/64)

1st return points won

27% (16/59)

51% (22/43)

2nd return points won

49% (19/39)

30% (31/105)

Return Points Won

36% (35/98)

86% (12/14)

Service Games Won

100% (16/16)

0% (0/16)

Return Games Won

14% (2/14)

BEFORE THE MATCHWe called Brandon Nakashima 63%Right

Borges' Rublev Scalp Runs into Nakashima's Cincinnati Ceiling

Both men reached the last 16 by dismantling a marquee name — Borges outplaying Rublev, Nakashima recovering from a set down against Medvedev — and neither will treat a Masters quarter-final as a bonus. This is territory that reshapes seedings for the US Open swing.

Borges' week has been built on unhurried baseline geometry and a serve that held firm through two Kokkinakis tie-breaks. Nakashima counters with the cleaner return and the flatter, deeper strike; on quick Cincinnati hard courts, the American's ability to take time away should stress Borges' preference for constructing points.

The 112-point hard-court Elo gap is the honest verdict: Nakashima is the better player on this surface, not merely the higher-rated one. Borges' momentum makes a tight opening set likely, but the American should close it in three.

Written and published before this match was played. Kept unedited, whatever the result — including when we got it wrong.