World no. 5 Holger Rune embraced another early exit, falling in the second round on his Shanghai Masters debut. Holger met Brandon Nakashima and experienced a heavy 6-0, 6-2 loss in 69 minutes, playing miles below his best and suffering the seventh loss in the previous eight encounters. Brandon dominated with his first serve, dropping 13 points in seven service games and defending the only break point he faced. Holger lost over half of the points in his games, struggling behind the first and second serve and getting broken five times from 14 opportunities given to Brandon. The American played well-balanced tennis, hitting 16 winners and four unforced errors while welcoming 24 mistakes from the Dane. Brandon left Holger miles behind in the shortest range up to four strokes and prevailed 17-13 in the advanced ones.
Brandon Nakashima scored a commanding victory over Holger Rune.
Rune denied a break point in the encounter’s first game with a forehand down the line winner and erased the second with a volley winner. The young gun wasted a game point and hit a double fault on the third break chance to experience an early setback. Nakashima pushed strong on the return again in the third game, earning four break points and seizing the last after Rune’s wild forehand. The Dane netted a backhand in the fifth game, finding himself 5-0 behind and allowing the American to serve for the opener. Brandon landed a smash winner at the net for a bagel in 29 minutes, doing everything right.
Holger ended his terrible streak at the beginning of the second set after a booming serve. Brandon fended off a break point in the second game and grabbed a break in the next one, causing Holger’s frustration. The Dane netted a forehand in the fifth game, experiencing another break and falling 4-1 behind. World no. 5 served to stay in the match at 1-5 and faced a match point. He denied it with a volley winner at the net and held with a cracking backhand down the line winner. Nakashima served for the victory at 5-2 and found himself 30-0 behind. The American fired an ace and returned to 30-30 with a service winner. Brandon forced Holger’s error for a match point and missed it. Nakashima earned the second match point and landed a service winner to celebrate a career-best victory in terms of ranking.