Brandon Nakashima (ATP Tour - Twitter)
World No. 134 Matteo Arnaldi will have to bring his A-game to pose a challenge against world No. 49 Brandon Nakashima in a group-stage encounter of the Next Gen ATP Finals.
The Italian tennis pro has performed decently, especially in the second half of the season. He has primarily played in the Challenger events and won his only title of the season in Francavilla. He played in the qualifiers at Wimbledon and the US Open but could not make it to the main draw. Arnaldi had a short stint in the Italian Open where he was ousted in the first round by Marin Cilic.
Prior to the Next Gen ATP Finals, the 21-year-old played in a Challenger event in Bergamo and lost in the quarterfinals against Jan-Lennard Struff.
The American youngster has played just one Challenger event this season. He has been a regular feature in the ATP Tour-level tournaments. It has been a memorable year for him as he won his maiden ATP title when he defeated Marcos Giron in the San Diego Open final.
Nakashima lost to Sebastian Korda in the semifinals of the Next Gen ATP Finals last year. The 21-year-old most recently played in the Paris Masters. He was ousted in the first round by the experienced Dan Evans but not without putting up a gritty fight.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as the two players have never faced each other as yet.
Prediction: Brandon Nakashima to win in straight sets.
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