‘Grandfather’ Nakashima serves big, beats… National Bank Open

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The way the National Bank Open presented by Rogers has gone, you can understand why a reporter joked that Brandon Nakashima was the “grandfather” of the eight quarterfinalists.

He was, indeed, the oldest player remaining in the draw entering Tuesday.

However, Nakashima isn’t well into 30s or even 30.

He turned 25 last week.

“At the same time, I feel like I'm not one of the younger players on the tour anymore,” he said. “I feel like I've been on the tour for five, six years now. So definitely have a lot of experience.”

The birthday week has been a memorable one for the calm, cool native of San Diego, who had never before been to a Masters 1000 quarterfinal before Montreal.

With his 6-2, 6-3 win over the demonstrative Luciano Darderi to start play at Centre Court, he went a step further.

“Super happy with making my first semifinal,” said Nakashima. “It was a goal of mine at the beginning of the year to try to do well at one of these Masters 1000s tournaments. So, to be able to do it for the first time here is really special.”

Montreal was also the site of Nakashima’s first round of 16 at a Masters, in 2024.

When healthy, Nakashima always seems to be inside the top 40 in the rankings.

But the ambitious, versatile American wants more and this week signals a breakthrough. He should be at a new career-high in the rankings when the NBO concludes, surpassing the No. 29 spot he achieved in 2025.

He has maintained his form from Washington, where Nakashima downed a Masters winner, Jakub Mensik and top 10 regular Alex de Minaur.

“Obviously, was coming into the tournament with a lot of confidence, especially after Washington,” he said. “I knew I had to put together some good matches in the early rounds to have a chance to go deep in the tournament and kind of got through some tight three-setters to get to this point.

“Was very happy with the performance today. Luckily, I didn't have to go three sets.The overall level of confidence is really high right now. Mentally, going into every match knowing that I can do well and I can play aggressive, I'll give myself a good chance to win the match. Really happy about all of that.”

Some might be surprised that Nakashima sits third this season in first-serve points won — only behind Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz.

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He dictated behind the first serve against Sinner’s fellow Italian, striking 11 aces and tallying 83 percent first-serve points.

The score looked routine but it wasn’t the case, especially in the second set.

Nakashima faced four break points in three different games as his first serve percentage dropped. Twice, though, he produced excellent first serves.

Darderi’s best chance to break might have been early in the set but he put a backhand slice into the net.

The conditions, though, weren’t easy due to the wind.

Such is tennis that Nakashima only had one game where he held break points in the second — and took his chance.

At 4-3, Darderi saved the first two break points with attacking play. On game point, though, he double faulted, then did the same thing when down another break point.

Nakashima improved to 2-1 against Darderi, collecting both wins on his preferred surface of hard courts.

But Darderi, known for his clay-court prowess, leaves Montreal with a first Masters hard-court quarterfinal under his belt.

Nakashima played one year of college tennis at the University of Virginia before turning pro. Rafael Jodar, 19, did the same thing and would face Nakashima if he beats Arthur Fils.

“He's a good friend of mine,” said Nakashima. “So it's been amazing to see his rise to the top and becoming one of the best players in the world right now.”

Photo: Pascal Ratthé/Tennis Canada