The Infosys Hall of Fame Open continues this week as Brandon Nakashima faces Emilio Nava as Alex Michelson goes up against Maxime Cressey. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 ATP Tour – ATP 250
Infosys Hall of Fame Open
International Tennis Hall of Fame
Selected Ro32 matches – 16/17 July
Round of 32 – 16 July
Brandon Nakashima 19/100 | Emilio Nava 36/10
The 22-year-old American Brandon Nakashima has very quietly compiled a respectable 2024 campaign, pushing him back to the edge of the top 50 in the world rankings.
The hard-working American has a versatile, balanced game that should see him rise further up the rankings. The 2022 NextGen Finals champ returned to the top 100 in the world after winning the Tenerife Challenger near the start of the season.
He started to reach the main draws of some big events, picking up the 2nd top-10 win of his career over Andrey Rublev in Barcelona. But it was really the switch to grass that allowed Nakashima to really express himself, as he reached back-to-back grass-court semi-finals (at the Surbiton Trophy and Stuttgart Open).
He also performed admirably at Wimbledon, going down in four sets to big-serving lefty Ugo Humbert in the 3rd round. He will be looking for a strong showing this week in what will be his last opportunity to show off his grass-court wears this year.
This is the type of week where a guy like Emilio Nava needs to capitalize. The 22-year-old American- of Mexican descent- has struggled to build on some really exciting junior’s form.
Nava finished runner-up in the boy’s section of the 2019 Aussie and US Opens (actually losing to Wimbledon semi-finalist Musetti in that Australian final). Since then, he has struggled to break through at tour level, winning a few Challenger titles along the way.
In fact, Nava has only won one main draw match this entire season (beating the woefully out-of-form Diego Schwartzmann in Los Cabos). So, it’s fair to say that he goes into this match as a huge underdog (especially with it being on grass).
But for all his qualities, Nakashima has had issues dealing with lower-ranked players throughout his career and it will be interesting to see how he looks after what has been a gruelling grass-court season.
The Verdict: Nakashima to win in three 26/10
Nakashima leads the head-to-head 2-0, twice beating Nava on the ITF or Challenger circuits. This looks like it should be a pretty cut-and-dried win for Nakashima.
But as I alluded to earlier, Nakashima doesn’t have that one explosive weapon that guarantees success against the lesser players. Nava has a really strong serve and baseline-orientated game and it could be worth it to go for the three-set Nakashima win.
Nakashima has been playing non-stop grass-court tennis of late and he could be slightly overcooked going into this match.
Round of 16 – 17 July
Alex Michelson vs Maxime Cressey
This should be an entertaining clash between two Americans well-versed in Newport success. Alex Michelson will have really fond memories of this event. It was his run to last year’s final that ultimately made him forgo his college scholarship and turn pro.
And I think he will probably have mixed feelings about how his first year on tour has gone. He has had struggles this season but he has still reached the quarterfinal stage in three tour-level events.
He also produced arguably the biggest result of his career by reaching the 3rd round of the Aussie Open (losing to Alex Zverev in straight sets). He was involved in an absolute cracker at Wimbledon, surrendering a two-set lead to Lloyd Harris in his first-round match.
Still just 19 years of age, Alex Michelson still has plenty of time to finetune his all-action game. He serves really well and looks up to the likes of McEnroe for their willingness to come to the net.
Four-time ATP finalist Maxime Cressey has endured a torrid campaign, nearly dropping outside of the top 200 in the world rankings. In fact, he came into this week’s championships without a single main draw win to his name all season! Cressey is a rare beast in 21st-century tennis, largely adopting a serve-and-volley style in his service games.
He has a big serve and even tends to go for broke on his 2nd. There’s a certain degree of risk to his style and he will always be prone to fluctuations in form (though this year has been abysmal). Having said all that, this is a fringe grass-court event and Cressey’s style can always work out there.
And so, it proved in his opener, as he came back from a set down to pick up his first main draw win of the year against Albot. Cressey is a noted grass-court specialist, reaching the Eastbourne final in 2022 before winning this title in the same year.
The Verdict: Cressey to win in three
These two share the head-to-head spoils at one win apiece, with Cressy winning their most recent encounter in Atlanta last season. But Michelson outlasted Cressey in an epic three-setter on these very courts last season.
I just think that Cressy has the courtcraft and knowledge to thrive in these conditions. His unique style could rush the young Michelson into more mistakes than usual.
