Brandon Nakashima Press Conference | 2024 US Open Round 3

four sets three hours put this win into context for us uh yeah I mean it was a great win for me um you know super exciting atmosphere out there and and uh you know I thought both of us were playing at a really high level the whole match and and you know I'm just really happy to to get through well congratulations thank you accomplishment Michael hey Brandon Michael lewis.com congratulations that was that was wild out there um so much to get to but let's take me through the fourth you're down four love two breaks I know you never give up on a set but are you starting to think okay I'm going five or tell me what you're thinking about when it's for love there uh I mean at that point I was just telling myself just to keep fighting for every point and and you know try not to give him anything for free and and um you know just kind of keep fighting away chipping away and eventually you know find yourself back at four all and you know it's a brand new set so uh yeah I mean I was just telling myself just to stay focused try not to you know let down too much and even if I ended up losing that set you know hopefully going to the fifth set I was able to you know get back a little confidence what turned it around that made you start to believe was it the first break or what sort of gave you the uh yeah I think the the first few games 4-1 and 4-2 um they were pretty long games and I was able to squeeze those out and and just kind of got that belief back that I was you know able to to come back in the set and and um you know eventually tie it up Brandon Rich Jones from the mirror um yeah obviously a great tournament for you so far but it's been a great year just talk to me a little bit about this year in general and how your confidence has built up it seems like everything's sort of come together for you the last few months what what did you put that down to uh yeah I think it's a little combination of everything really you know I think my team and I we've we've done a really good job you know putting in the the hard work in the gym and on the practice court and and um with every match just kind of building that confidence more and more and if to be able to to make these deep runs at these big tournaments um you know it's very very exciting for us and um you know it's nice to see kind of the hard work paying off yeah you look at sort of way you're on now compared to sort where you might have been 12 months ago and you had a really tough year I mean looking back to that how do you think things have changed mentally and sort of how are you feeling that point last year compared to you know how you feeling yeah I think you know last year definitely the confidence was a little bit down and you know lost a lot of close matches and you know by after a few they kind of pile up and the confidence starts to go down but um but I was still you know training hard working hard uh in the gym and on the practice courts and and um yeah this year I mean played a lot of matches and got a lot of good wins so the confidence definitely back up there and and um you know when you're playing confident out there you're hitting through your shots a little bit more and and you're just kind of playing a little more freely Mar MTI is such a crazy shot maker and he had some crazy shots tonight um how do you sort of as a player when he hits one of those kind of shots or playing someone like him sort of reset quickly and and be and not be thrown by some of the acrobatics and the craziness yeah he he's definitely a very talented player and you know he's going to have a lot of kind of ups and downs during the match and and you just kind of have to ride the wave as best as possible I think today I got off to a really good start and and um you know I expected him to kind of raise his level as well and he did end up you know playing a lot better in the second set and and it was just a matter of kind of fighting for every point in the third set and kind of you know chipping away to to kind of find the break but um but I thought both of us were playing at a really high level today and then just what does it mean to be in the fourth round I mean your first time here at the US Open you had the crowd really on your side I mean what does it mean to you to be pushing back and and being at this level and making your first fourth round here yeah it's you know an unbelievable experience here uh to make the fourth round as an American it's just you know a very very exciting time for me and to play in front of these crowds uh get that home support it's just super special and and you know I'll just kind of treasure these moments uh as I get through them Italian support out there too tonight yeah exactly but uh but no it was amazing yeah and you mentioned being an American player and playing here obviously Ben Shelton and Francis TFO had a great match on Arthur Ash sort of that little group of American sort between 10 and 20 doing really well in the world rankings I mean how much does that sort of motivate you being a couple of years younger than some of them to kind of push yourself into that mix after this tournament and and get up there yeah it definitely motivates me it's always great to see all the other Americans doing well you know I think they've they set the bar pretty high for American tennis and you know for me try to you know stay focused on myself but but at the same time you know it's nice to see all of them doing well and and it's uh definitely exciting time for American tennis okay we good thank you very much congratulations thank you