SAN DIEGO (AP) — Top-seeded Daniel Evans of Great Britain beat 95th-ranked Taro Daniel of Japan 6-4, 6-4 in his opening match Thursday night at the San Diego Open ATP 250.
The 32-year-old Evans reached his fourth tour-level quarterfinal of the year. The world No. 25, who was coming off an indoor Davis Cup outing in Glasgow, Scotland, is now headed for a first-time meeting with Frenchman Constant Lestienne.
“I was good behind my serve from the end of the first set to the end of the match,” Evans said. “I had good variation and played the game on my terms. That’s the biggest thing I was happy with — I played the match on my terms and made him think a lot.”
San Diegan Brandon Nakashima, 21, continued to make the most of his home-court advantage by beating Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals. He had a Round of 16 breakthrough at Wimbledon and a third-round showing at the U.S. Open.
He landed 74% of his first serves, including 12 aces, and won 80% of those points.
“I’m very happy with the performance today. I definitely served well,” said Nakashima. “That helped my return games a lot, helped me maybe play a little more freely off the baseline and try to convert all the break points I could out there.”
Nakashima earned a head-to-head with Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan, whom he defeated this summer in the third round at Wimbledon, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1.
No. 2 seed Jenson Brooksby of Sacramento claimed an all-California showdown with Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont, advancing to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory.
It marked the 21-year-old Brooksby’s second win over the former UCLA star in 2022, having also prevailed in the Round of 16 in Atlanta, 6-3, 6-4.
Brooksby moves on to face Australia’s Christopher O’Connell, who is into his second career ATP quarterfinal thanks to an efficient 6-3, 7-5 upset of eighth seed J.J. Wolf of the United States. The 130th-ranked O’Connell had seven of his 12 aces in the 43-minute first set and won 80% of his first-serve points.
Great Britain
