Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the ATP Washington match.
Cameron Norrie has shown clear improvement since Wimbledon. After reaching the quarter-finals at the Grand Slam, he made a strong start in Washington by comfortably defeating second seed Lorenzo Musetti. His next opponent will be Brandon Nakashima, who will attempt for the third time to progress beyond the round of 16 in the US capital.
Brandon Nakashima
Currently ranked No. 32 in the ATP rankings, Brandon Nakashima has managed just one win in five matches against left-handed players this season, with two of those defeats coming against Jack Draper and Ben Shelton. Despite a solid performance against Ethan Quinn in Washington, where he won 6:3, 6:4, Nakashima landed only 60% of his first serves. His record against top-tier players is also underwhelming: in the current campaign, he has lost five of his six matches against top-50 opponents.
Cameron Norrie
Ranked No. 41, Cameron Norrie has traditionally excelled on American hard courts, with a career win-loss record of 121-61 on this surface. This season, he has won six of his nine matches on similar courts. Against Brandon Nakashima, Norrie leads the head-to-head (3-1). All three of his victories came on hard and grass courts, each by a 2:0 scoreline and under 20 games total. Norrie's recent form is backed by statistics: in his last eight appearances on American hard courts, he has won in straight sets five times.
Brandon Nakashima vs Cameron Norrie Prediction
Cameron Norrie is in strong form and has dominated past encounters against Brandon Nakashima. He is expected to win this match without much difficulty.
