American Brandon Nakashima enjoyed a solid 2024 campaign, reaching a career-high ranking of 35 following some quality results during the North American hardcourt swing.
Mexican Open- Acapulco
Round of 32
Brandon Nakashima 0.46 vs Benjamin Bonzi 1.7
American Brandon Nakashima enjoyed a solid 2024 campaign, reaching a career-high ranking of 35 following some quality results during the North American hardcourt swing. He reached the 4th round of the US Open and would go on to reach a 6th career semifinal at the Hangzhou Open. The 28-year-old couldn’t build on that momentum in the early stages of this season, losing four of his first five tour-level matches. But he looked a bit more composed in his last outing at Delray Beach, reaching the quarterfinals with a comeback win over servebot Reily Opelka. Nakashima has reached three finals in his career (all three coming on hardcourts). He is a solid, durable player and could thrive in the slightly sticky conditions that players face in Acapulco. The matches can become quite slow, and Nakashima’s supreme physicality should be an asset.
Mercurial French talent Benjamin Bonzi will return to action after a one-week break following his fascinating Open 13 campaign (he lost in the first round of the singles but would claim the doubles title playing alongside Pierre-Hugues Herbert). The aggressive Frenchman has only enjoyed sporadic success on tour but suddenly burst into life in the latter part of the 2024 campaign. He reached three successive Challenger finals towards the end of the year (winning two of them). More crucially, he managed to translate Challenger form into concrete tour-level success, winning his maiden ATP Tour title at the Moselle Open. He started this season with some decent results, reaching the quarters in Adelaide before a 3rd round run at the Aussie Open. He hasn’t won a tour-level singles match since Melbourne and will be hoping to draw some confidence from that doubles victory in Marseille.
The Verdict: Nakashima to win in straight sets at 1.18- This will be their first career meeting. I think that Nakashima’s more consistent style will be better suited to these conditions. As I noted earlier, these conditions can get hot and sticky, prioritizing patience and rally-resistance. Bonzi is a pure ball-striker who tries to go for his shots at every opportunity. I think Nakashima’s resilience will force him into plenty of errors.
