Rising talent American Brandon Nakashima came back from a set down to beat Italian Fabio Fognini 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 7-5 at the San Diego Open.
Winning 80 per cent of his first serves, Nakashima came back from 2-0 down in the decider to draw level at 3-3 before breaking serve in the 12th game to close out the match.
“I did not think I played bad in the first set,” Nakashma said.
“He just played a bit better at and that’s all it takes against a player like that, but luckily I was able to regroup quickly, get a break in the first game of the second set and tried to ride the momentum from there.”
Nakashima will play Andrey Rublev in the second round.
Elsewhere, Aslan Karatsev has a comfortable win over Federico Delbonis 6-1 7-5.
The Russian will face either Metz Moselle Open champion Hubert Hurkacz or Australian qualifier Alex Bolt in the next round.
