Brandon Nakashima had the upper hand in a hard-fought battle between the former Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF champions on Tuesday at the Almaty Open.
The fifth-seeded American defeated Hamad Medjedovic 7-6(5), 6-2 in his debut on the indoor hard court ATP 250. With his 83-minute win, Nakashima improved to 31-25 for the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. The 24-year-old has more wins at tour level this season than any other player outside the Top 20 apart from Francisco Cerundolo (35).
Rock solid from start to finish?
[5] @b_nakashima wins Medjedovic 7-6(5) 6-2 to mark his Almaty debut in style@AlmatyOpen_KZ | #AlmatyOpen pic.twitter.com/4DdfsuC75N
— ATP tour (@atptour) October 14, 2025
Nakashima (who won the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF in Milan) and Medjedovic (who triumphed in Jeddah in 2024) met for the second year in a row at an indoor ATP 250 event. Medjedovic triumphed in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head match in Belgrade a year ago, but Nakashima drew 1-1 with a strong performance in Almaty.
“It feels great, it’s my first time here in Kazakhstan and I love it,” Nakashima said. “It’s always good to get through the first round, so I’m very happy. It’s something you have to get used to [the conditions]but fortunately I was able to arrive here quite early, so that I could practice well on the courts.
The world number 34 won 80 percent (35/44) of the points behind his first serve and converted two of the four break points he earned in a second-round meeting with Fabian Marozsan in Almaty. Nakashima is now 11-1 in his past twelve opening rounds on hard courts.
Alexander Shevchenko sent his home fans into a frenzy by converting his fifth match point to defeat Laslo Djere 7-6(1), 7-6(12) after a thrilling end to their first round encounter. Kazakhstan’s number 2 saved four set points, including three in the second set tiebreak, to gain the upper hand after two hours and six minutes.
Shevchenko, who is now 4-3 in Almaty after reaching last year’s quarterfinals, will next face eighth seed Corentin Moutet.
Earlier, Australians Aleksandar Vukic, Rinky Hijikata and Adam Walton all progressed after three-set wins. Vukic defeated qualifier Marko Topo 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, while lucky loser Hijkata overcame home hope Timofey Skatov 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3.
Walton defeated compatriot Tristan Schoolkate 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 6-2 to set up a meeting with second seed and former world number 1 Daniil Medvedev.
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