By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The US Open debut day is off to a stunning turn of events as former world no. 4 male tennis player Holger Rune was already knocked out of the Grand Slam tournament on August 27, 2024, in Queens, New York.
Rune failed to match the expectations of his fans in attendance after world no. 50-ranked Brandon Nakashima swept him in just three sets- 6.2, 6.1, 6.4- to advance to the second round of the Grand Slam stage.
Entering the first-round matchup with confidence and the belief that he could take down Rune, Nakashima was all guns blazing in the opening set after bullying the Danish ace during their baseline exchanges.
The biggest momentum swing then came when Nakashima scored an early break point midway through the opening set, sucking the life out of Rune who became hounded with successive unforced errors to close the first frame.
Surprisingly, Nakashima maintained the level of his groundstroke game, putting Rune in different awkward spots when he targeted his backhand side for easy set-ups of his thundering forehand.
Rune tried to switch things up after pressing inside the net area but the rolling Nakashima took a 2-0 lead backstopped by three service breaks.
The Danish star looked comfortable to start the third set as he finally regained his groove in the baseline rallies.
Just when Rune thought that he could stage a comeback using his signature down-the-line shots, Nakashima once again caught fire and broke free when he scored a crucial break point to untangle the 4-all shackle.
Nakashima wrapped up the impressive upset win with a massive 11 aces output derived from an 84% winning percentage on his first service possessions.
On the other hand, it was a forgettable campaign for Rune as the young and upcoming stalwart had five double-fault errors and only tallied 61 points won compared to Nakashima’s 96.
