Nakashima Saves Three Match Points to Stun Medvedev in Cincinnati

Three Match Points Down, One Career-Defining Win

Brandon Nakashima has delivered one of the upsets of the 2026 North American hard-court season, eliminating fourth seed Daniil Medvedev 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-1 in the round of 16 at the Cincinnati Open. The American, ranked 22nd in the world, saved three match points while serving at 4-5, 0-40 in the second set before turning the match completely on its head and closing out a dominant third set in little over 30 minutes.

It was Nakashima's first career victory over Medvedev in four meetings, and it is comfortably the biggest scalp of his career at a Masters 1000 event.

The Moment the Match Pivoted

Medvedev had looked in full control through the opening set, claiming the tiebreak 7-3 with his trademark heavy baseline construction and penetrating returns. The Russian continued pressing in the second, breaking to lead 5-4 and then arriving, three times over, within a single point of victory. For most players, three match points at 0-40 on the opponent's serve represents a formality.

Nakashima refused that script. He saved all three match points, steadied his serve, and levelled the score. The crowd in Cincinnati sensed something extraordinary shifting. He then forced a tiebreak, dictating rallies with flat, precise groundstrokes and claiming the set 7-4 to level the match at one set apiece.

Medvedev Unravels — Nakashima Seizes the Third

The psychological rupture was immediate and stark. According to courtside reports, Medvedev smashed two advertising boards in frustration during the changeover between sets — a rare public unravelling for a player usually celebrated for his ice-cold resilience. Whatever composure remained dissolved inside the deciding set.

Nakashima was clinical. He broke early and kept breaking, running out a 6-1 winner in just over half an hour. His groundstrokes flew flatter and faster with each game while Medvedev, who had entered the week as one of the genuine title contenders, could find no foothold. The contrast between the first and third sets — Medvedev in control versus Nakashima untouchable — told the story of the match in full.

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A Summer Swing That Demands Attention

The result is no isolated flash. Nakashima arrived in Ohio on the back of a remarkable hard-court summer: a semi-final in Washington followed by a run to the final of the Montreal Masters — his deepest result at a Masters 1000 — left him 9-2 across the swing before today's match. The win over Medvedev takes that to 10-2 and delivers him, for the first time, a top-five scalp at this level.

His quarter-final opponent is Nuno Borges, who produced his own controlled performance in dispatching 13th seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-4 earlier in the week. Neither Nakashima nor Borges has ever reached a Masters 1000 semi-final; by Thursday evening, that will no longer be true of at least one of them.

Medvedev exits Cincinnati with his draw open and his composure in question. For Nakashima, a first Masters 1000 semi-final is now one win away — against an opponent who showed he is more than capable of producing his own surprise.