Capping off his breakout 2020 season in style, 19-year-old American Brandon Nakashima earned the first ATP Challenger title of his young career with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over India’s fourth-seeded Prajnesh Gunneswaran on Sunday in the championship match of the 2020 Orlando Open, an ATP Challenger 80 event.

Nakashima collected five wins on the week, all in straight sets, taking down three seeded competitors along the way. Furthermore, only one of the 10 sets he played was extended past 6-4. Nakashima will jump well into the top 200 of the FedEx ATP Rankings, setting a new career high. For Gunneswaran, he closes out a successful final two weeks of the season, posting back-to-back runner-up finishes after also reaching the final in Cary last week.

Nakashima’s Path to the Orlando Open Title

First Round – def. Roberto Cid Subervi (DOM) 6-1, 6-3

Second Round – def. No. 1 Thiago Monteiro (BRA) 6-4, 6-3

Quarterfinals – def. No. 8 Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 6-3, 7-6(8)

Semifinals – def. Mitchell Krueger (USA) 6-1, 6-3

Final – def. No. 4 Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) 6-3, 6-4

On Sunday against Gunneswaran, the serving numbers were nearly identical across the board, as both players won 66% of their first serves and 34% of their second serves. The only major difference came on break points; Nakashima actually faced eight of them throughout the match, including a 0-40 deficit late in the second set, but managed to avoid being broken. Gunneswaran came up against five total break points, dropping his serve once in each set, which was all Nakashima needed.

For more information on the 2020 Orlando Open presented by Nemours, click here.