Matteo Berrettini saved two match points to defeat Brandon Nakashima in the first round of the Rolex Paris Masters on November 3. The Italian won 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(8) after two hours and ten minutes on Court 2, recording his first career victory at the tournament.
The deciding tie-break settled a match in which neither player could pull clear for long. Berrettini took the opening set before the fourteenth-seeded American levelled the contest. The official tournament report confirmed that Berrettini survived two opportunities for Nakashima to close out the match.
Serving helped keep the Italian in contention. Tennis’s completed scorecard recorded 17 aces for Berrettini, compared with nine for Nakashima. Berrettini won 57 of 65 points behind his first serve, while each player converted one break point.
The result reversed their meeting in Shanghai last month, when Nakashima won in straight sets. Berrettini now faces France’s Ugo Humbert in the second round, with his opening victory secured after a demanding three-set encounter.
Archive illustration: tennis net on a clay court, photographed in September 2018; not the indoor Paris match or venue. Photo: Dejan Krsmanovic, CC BY 2.0. Display may be cropped to fit.
