American Brandon Nakashima has saved his file good as he gained the Next Gen ATP Finals with a second straight-set victory over Jiri Lehecka.
Nakashima took simply 80 minutes to win 4-3 (7-5) 4-3 (8-6) 4-2 in Milan on Saturday night time, securing the title on the primary of three championship factors when Czech Republic’s Lehecka despatched a forehand lengthy.
The fourth-seeded Nakashima gained all 5 of his matches on the year-ending match for 21-and-under gamers, together with a straight-set victory over Lehecka within the group stage.
It was Nakashima’s second look on the Next Gen Finals, having misplaced to compatriot Sebastian Korda within the semi-finals final yr.
Nakashima gained his first ATP title in his residence metropolis of San Diego in September.
Lehecka broke Nakashima’s serve within the very first sport. But Nakashima broke again within the sixth sport to take the set to a tiebreaker, the place the American raced right into a 5-0 lead and went on to take the set.
Lehecka threatened to begin the second set in related trend however Nakashima managed to avoid wasting two break factors early on.
Indeed the subsequent break of serve was to show crucial because it got here within the closing sport of the match.
This was the fifth version of the Next Gen ATP Finals, which has featured shorter units of first-to-four video games and different experimental format modifications.
New guidelines included no changeovers after the primary sport of every set and just one sit-down per set after three video games; a 15-second serve clock after aces, double-faults and unreturned serves; and training throughout an opponent’s medical timeout or bathroom break.
