Aug 12 (Reuters) – Brandon Nakashima beat Spain’s Rafael Jodar 7-6(3) 6-4 on Wednesday to reach the Canadian Open final, putting the American one win away from his first Masters 1000 title ahead of the U.S. Open.
Nakashima found his range on serve early and took the opening-set tiebreak when Jodar sent a deep backhand volley long.
The American was made to work to seal the victory, needing five match points before firing down another booming serve that the highly rated Spanish teenager could only barely reach.
The Montreal final will be an all-American affair, with the 28th-seeded Nakashima set to face either 12th seed Learner Tien or fifth-seeded Ben Shelton, who meet later on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Tom Hogue)
