Brandon Nakajima defeated Lehka 4-3 (7-5), 4-3 (8-6), 4-2 to win the Next Generation Finals at Milan. Nakajima became the first American player to win the Next Generation Finals.
It was Nakajima's second win over Lehka this week, and he bounced back in a break in the first set to seal the first set win 7-5 in tie-break. In the second set tie-break, Nakajima scored two points at 4-6 and won the set with four straight points. Nakajima broke Lehka's serve in the final set to seal the third set 4-2. He hit 19 winning goals and had only four unforced errors.
In the round-robin group, Nakajima conceded only two sets, including a three-set win over Lehka. He defeated Britain's Jack Draper in the semifinals. In this year's Next ATP Finals, the American player went 8-1 in a tie-break. Earlier this year, Nakajima won his first ATP Tour title in San Diego and reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, reaching two quarterfinals in Atlanta and Los Cabos. He became the youngest American player to reach multiple finals after Andy Roddick in 2001 and 2002. He scored the biggest victory of his career against world No. 16 Shapovalov in the second round of Wimbledon and world No. 19 Dimitrov in the second round of the US Open.
Nakajima is the champion after four new generation ATP finals champions such as Jonghyun, Tsitsipas, Sinner and Alcaraz. Last year, Nakajima reached the semifinals of the Next Generation Final, losing to his compatriot Koda in five sets.
Nakajima's parents, Wesley and Christina, are both pharmacists. His mother grew up in Vietnam and moved to California when she was 5 years old. At the age of 17, he entered the University of Virginia early, where he was named the 2019 ACC Freshman of the Year before turning professional. Nakajima's coaches are Argentina's Infantino and Davin, who have worked with Gaston Gaudio, Juan Martín del Botero and David Nalbandian.
"Being able to play in Milan as an American is the best feeling in the world. I'm going to bring the championship back to the United States, and now I'm going to take a break. My team is my everything. We had such a great year together and worked well together. I'm happy with where we are now and we'll enjoy this phase. This is the final exam. There will obviously be some stressful moments. It was definitely a bit nervous at first, but I'm glad I was able to turn things around quickly, find my way to play and finish at the end. ”