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Match Details
Fixture: (8) Brandon Nakashima vs Richard Gasquet.
Date: October 11, 2022.
Tournament: Firenze Open 2022.
Round: First round (Round of 32).
Venue: Firenze, Italy.
Category: ATP 250.
Surface: Hard.
Prize money: $612,000.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video.
Brandon Nakashima vs Richard Gasquet preview
Eighth seed Brandon Nakashima will take on World No. 83 Richard Gasquet in the first round of the 2022 Firenze Open.
Nakashima is enjoying the best season of his career so far. He made it to the third round of a Major for the first time at the French Open. He then went a step further at Wimbledon by reaching the fourth round, where he lost to Nick Kyrgios.
The American reached back-to-back quarterfinals in Atlanta and Los Cabos, but then lost in the first round of the Canadian Open and the Western & Southern Open. Nakashima still made it to the third round of the US Open after that. Following his exit from New York, he went on to compete in the San Diego Open.
Nakashima scored wins over Zachary Svjada, Denis Kudla, Daniel Elahi Galan, and Christopher O'Connell to reach his third career final. He then defeated Marcos Giron to win his maiden career title. He participated in last week's Japan Open after that, but lost to Borna Coric in the second round.
Richard Gasquet, meanwhile, made it past the first round of all four Majors for the first time since 2015 this year. He made it to the second round of the Australian Open and the French Open, while reaching the third round at Wimbledon and the US Open. His other notable result was a semifinal showing at the Geneva Open, during which he defeated World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev.
Gasquet's recent events included the Davis Cup, where he won both of his singles matches. But it wasn't enough to help France make it out of the group stage. He then competed at the Moselle Open, where he reached his maiden ATP final in 2004, but fell to Dominic Thiem in the first round.
Gasquet then competed in a couple of Challenger tournaments. He made it to the quarterfinals of the first event, but lost in the opening round of the other.
Brandon Nakashima vs Richard Gasquet head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between them, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.
Brandon Nakashima vs Richard Gasquet odds
All odds are sourced from BetMGM.
Brandon Nakashima vs Richard Gasquet prediction
Nakashima's serve led to his downfall during his second-round loss at the Japan Open. His second serve was routinely punished by Coric last week and if he doesn't improve in that regard, Gasquet could exploit it in a similar manner.
The Frenchman, however, wasn't able to impose himself in a substantial manner during return games during his first-round loss last week to Jurgen Briand. He went 0/5 on break points, while winning just 25% of return points in total.
Gasquet's backhand is still a force to be reckoned with and is his preferred shot when it comes to winning points. Nakashima's two-hander isn't that bad either and he is a more consistent player overall at this point. Expect the young American to withstand the veteran's challenge to advance further.
Pick: Brandon Nakashima to win in three sets.
