Final November, Brandon Nakashima hit his biggest peak. The American captured the Next Gen ATP Finals title, beforehand received by Hyeon Chung, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Every of these gamers shortly vaulted to the highest of the game, both by reaching a serious semi-final or cracking the High 10 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
Nakashima has taken the slower method to his climb since rising victorious in Milan. Getting into his second-round match of the Mubadala Citi DC Open towards former World No. 1 Andy Murray, the American is 9-13 on the season. Whereas some gamers could be antsy to proceed their ascent, Nakashima is affected person.
“I all the time thought to myself that you simply’re all the time going to have some good outcomes, you are going to have some dangerous outcomes,” Nakashima stated. “However on the finish of the day, it is necessary to maintain growing your recreation and staying wholesome on the market. And if I preserve doing that and preserve having fun with it, I am certain my time will come and I will have these alternatives.”
It has not merely been a case of disappointing outcomes this 12 months for the 21-year-old Californian. On the finish of the preseason, Nakashima started to really feel ache in his left knee. Regardless of not being 100 per cent, he competed in Australia to start the season within the hopes of enjoying some matches.
The ache lingered by means of the early months of the 12 months, so Nakashima and his crew determined to take off time after Miami to bodily recuperate and get his physique proper.
“Actually, this 12 months, I’ve realized you can’t take issues with no consideration out right here. You’ll be able to’t take your physique with no consideration, your well being. On the finish of the 12 months, I sadly needed to miss a couple of tournaments, and I by no means actually had that earlier than,” Nakashima stated. “So it actually gave me perspective to be grateful that you simply’re wholesome on the finish of the day and also you’re in a position to play these tournaments, regardless of the end result.
“Clearly, you need to do properly in any respect the tournaments. However I simply attempt to take every day at a time. You are not all the time going to have good moments, there’s undoubtedly going to be some powerful moments as properly.”
When Nakashima was out, he was not twiddling his thumbs. The American labored laborious to rehab his knee and even did so in Italy, close to Monte-Carlo, for a part of the method.
“The times have been nonetheless lengthy. We have been spending lots of time within the gymnasium, lots of time with the physios and the docs to attempt to be sure that I acquired higher as quickly as attainable,” Nakashima stated. “So there wasn’t a lot downtime, truthfully, the times have been nonetheless very lengthy. However I attempted to take pleasure in it as a lot as attainable and search for the positives in the whole lot.”
Nakashima returned a couple of weeks earlier than Roland Garros and has persistently been in motion since. Indicators of fine type got here in Lyon, the place he reached his first semi-final of the season. Final week in Atlanta, he battled laborious towards red-hot countryman Christopher Eubanks and on Tuesday, Nakashima defeated Atlanta finalist Aleksandar Vukic in Washington.
The American is just not evaluating his path to that of another gamers. Simply because Alcaraz received the Next Gen ATP Finals crown in 2021 and completed ATP Yr-Finish No. 1 introduced by Pepperstone the next 12 months doesn’t imply failing to take action is a mirrored image on Nakashima.
“On the finish of the day, every individual, every participant, has their very own path. It does not matter should you win the identical event, or on the similar age or no matter. All these gamers, their objective is to get to the highest. Every participant has their very own journey,” Nakashima stated. “Perhaps it takes them a shorter period of time to achieve their objectives, or perhaps different gamers, it takes them a short while longer.
“It’s a must to undergo these powerful moments or these experiences to get you to the place you need to be. I am simply attempting to concentrate on myself out right here. I do know that my recreation is bettering every day. My time will come. It is only a matter of sticking to it and sticking to the method.”
Nakashima believes that his recreation is growing properly and that there’s merely lots of nice competitors on the ATP Tour. He pointed to Eubanks’ current run of outcomes for example of many gamers being able to breaking by means of at any second. With that in thoughts, he’s assured that by persevering with to work laborious, the outcomes will come.
Most of all, Nakashima is taking in the entire expertise. The flexibility to journey the world to play tennis in entrance of 1000’s of followers is just not misplaced on him.
“I’m attempting to take pleasure in it as a lot as attainable. In fact, there are troublesome occasions on the market,” Nakashima stated. “Nevertheless it’s simply attempting to take it at some point at a time and attempting to take pleasure in each second, as a result of on the finish of the day, not many individuals get to have these experiences, travelling around the globe and enjoying these tournaments. So even when occasions get powerful, I attempt to say to myself, I needs to be very grateful and privileged to be residing this life.”
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