LONDON — Australian tennis star Alex de Minaur, the top seed at the Queen’s Club Championships, saw his bid for the title come to an abrupt end Friday when American Brandon Nakashima defeated him in the quarterfinals.
De Minaur, ranked sixth in the world and widely considered one of the finest players on grass courts, could not find an answer for Nakashima’s relentless attacking style, falling 7-5, 6-3 in the match played on Andy Murray Arena.
The opening set was a tightly contested affair with both players holding serve comfortably until Nakashima, the world number 32, seized the only break point opportunity of the set in the 12th game to claim it.
De Minaur had a golden opportunity to apply pressure in the second set when he had a chance to break Nakashima’s serve at 1-1, but he was unable to convert. The Australian then lost his own serve at 3-4, and Nakashima closed out the match without looking back.
The victory marked Nakashima’s first triumph over a top-10 ranked opponent in two years.
