Nakashima ousts defending champion de Minaur to reach Washington semis

Top-seeded defending champion Alex de Minaur was eliminated by Brandon Nakashima while women’s top seed Jessica Pegula advanced to the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA Washington Open on Friday.

De Minaur, the world number six from Australia, fell to American Nakashima 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in a rematch of last year’s Washington quarter-final.

World number 33 Nakashima booked a Saturday semi-final against the winner of a later all-American match between 10th-ranked Taylor Fritz and world number 40 Alex Michelsen.

World number three Pegula, an American who won her first career WTA title at Washington in 2019. eliminated 20th-ranked Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 7-5, to reach her sixth WTA semi-final of the year.

“Since the beginning of the year I’m finding more confidence in matches hitting different spots,” Pegula said. “I was focusing on that a lot today.”

Pegula, who fired 24 winners against 17 unforced errors with six aces, will face the winner of a later match between Russians Diana Shnaider and Liudmila Samsonova on Saturday for a berth in Sunday’s final.

Nakashima, whose only ATP title came at San Diego in 2022, never trailed de Minaur in the tie-break and fired his eighth of 10 aces to take the first set.

Nakashima broke in the ninth game of the second set then held on a service winner to end matters after one hour and 54 minutes.

The American fired 31 winners to 22 from De Minaur and saved six of seven break points he faced in improving to 3-1 in their personal rivalry, including a Queen’s quarter-final triumph in June.

Pegula seeks her 12th career WTA crown and third of the year after triumphs in Dubai and Charleston.

The American led 2-1 when Kalinskaya took a medical timeout for treatment on her right foot. Pegula broke in the fourth game and held from there to take the first set in 37 minutes.

Pegula was serving for the match in the 10th game of the second set but fell behind 0-40 to face her first break points of the day. She saved three but then on a fourth sent a backhand long to deadlock the match at 5-5.

Kalinskaya gave back the break on her third double fault of the 11th game and Pegula held serve at love to claim victory after 75 minutes, taking her fifth triumph in six career matches against the Russian.

“I’m always so on edge when I’m playing her, like at the end,” Pegula said. “She hits a couple winners and I miss a couple balls and all of a sudden it’s 5-all.

“It felt like it was straightforward, but at the same time in my mind it didn’t feel like it.”

In later women’s quarter-finals, Japan’s third-seeded Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam winner, faced Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Ukraine second seed Elina Svitolina took on Alexandra Eala of the Phillipines.

Other later men’s quarter-finals pit American Ben Shelton, the world number eight, against Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo and Italy’s 15th-ranked Lorenzo Musetti against 24th-ranked Spanish teen Rafael Jodar.

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