Nakashima meets history in Montreal: "It's one of the three best moments of my career"
Montreal witnessed one of Nakashima's best victories of the circuit last night, cutting off Rafa Jódar and advancing to the final of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time.
I suppose that sport is precisely what happened tonight at the Masters 1000 in Montreal 2026. Just when there was a lot of talk about Rafa Jódar, even when many were already considering him a favorite, an inspired Brandon Nakashima showed up and changed everyone's plans.
The American has always been talked about as someone with enough skill to be among the best, but he just needed a little more time to prove it. Year after year, Brandon has been showing signs of improvement on the court, and finally, he has managed to materialize it in a major tournament. Now Nakashima knows that he is capable of defeating anyone in front of him, although he also knows that the final against Ben Shelton won't be easy at all.
Brandon Nakashima reacts to his first Masters 1000 final
“I am really excited, I am very happy right now. Everything I have had to do to reach this moment, all the hard work and everything else, I am just very happy that it is all paying off. I am really happy about what could happen tomorrow. Obviously, I wasn't thinking too much about reaching the final. Before the tournament, I knew I was playing at a very high level, so I knew I could have a good performance here and go far. I wasn’t thinking about the final or anything like that, but it is what it is and I am very happy with everything.”
San Diego remains special
“It's hard to say to choose just one moment. Of course, winning my first ATP title will always be number one for me, in San Diego. Obviously, this is definitely among the top three moments of my career. It is certainly one of the three best moments of my career."
Serve and forehand, the keys
“I think my serve and forehand were definitely the keys today. I knew I had to hit my forehand with a lot of power, try to move him because if he did that to me, I wouldn't be in a good position. I would be running far behind the baseline and it would be complicated. So I knew I had to be aggressive, try to move forward as much as possible, and luckily, I was able to place my serves where I needed.”
Cold blood to finish
“I knew the last game was going to be complicated. I knew I was going to be a bit nervous serving to close the match, but I just tried to tell myself that I had done everything necessary to get to that moment and that I deserved to be in that position, so I just had to go for it. Even if he had managed to break me in that last game, I knew I was still in a good position and I am very happy I was able to close it.”
Special friendship with Rafa Jódar
“There’s not much to say, I think everyone knows the talent he has and the level he can produce. This year has been a rise like we’ve never seen before. Obviously, it’s great to see it, he is a good friend on the circuit for me, we both played at the same university, although at different times, so we have that connection. It’s amazing to see his progression and it is definitely exciting to think about his future. He is the next player coming up and there’s a lot of anticipation around him. After he won the first set and took the lead in the second, I knew they were going to support him even more, because the crowd always wants the match to last longer, but also because he is an exciting player to watch. I just tried to focus on myself, not let the crowd bother me too much.”
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Nakashima se cita con la historia en Montreal: “Es uno de los tres mejores momentos de mi carrera”