A HUGE day of results was had at the Citi Open, with the Round of 64 completed as the Round of 32 began and plenty of Americans setting up shop on home turf in Washington.

In the Round of 54, all five Americans reigned supreme while it was a completely different story for the trio of Australians. On home soil, Steve Johnson, Mackenzie McDonald and Brandon Nakashima all claimed straight sets wins as Denis Kudla and Tennys Sandgren joined the winners list with respective three set victories. For Nakashima, it was more than a solid victory in Washington, but also the emerging talent’s 20th birthday, celebrating with a win over Australian Alexei Popyrin, 6-3 6-3.

“It’s always tough, especially when you’re playing the final of one tournament and then having to bounce back the next day or a couple days later and play another new tournament against another top player,” Nakashima said.

“I just try to tell myself to just stay calm out there, just focus on what I do best. All these hard-court matches have helped me with my confidence in my game, knowing that I can compete with all these top guys if I bring my best game out there.”

“I think it’s great that I’m able to back up these good weeks with another good run back to back,” Nakashima said. “Hopefully I can continue here.”

With eight aces to his name and an 82 per cent win rate off his first serve, Nakashima looked confident and did not relent under pressure from the Australian who fought back at times but lacked consistency. Compatriots Nick Kyrgios and Jordan Thompson join Popyrin on the sidelines, with Kyrgios downed in the same scoreline by McDonald, while Thompson claimed the first set before succumbing to Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer. The remaining Round of 64 match saw Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori claim a topsy-turvy, 2-6 6-1 6-1 victory over Indian Prajnesh Gunneswaran.

In the Round of 32, three of the five seeds fell in intriguing results, as a couple more Americans joined the winners list. Wildcard Jenson Brooksby backed up his impressive first round victory over Kevin Anderson with another scalp, taking down compatriot and 16th seed Frances Tiafoe for the biggest win of his career. Whilst the one hour and 53-minute, 7-6(4) 7-5 result could have gone either way, Brooksby dug deep to control proceedings and come out on top. Meanwhile, Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis also continued his strong run, overcoming Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, downing the 15th seed in straight sets, 6-3 6-2.

Second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime had a shaky start before firing up to dispose of Italian Andreas Seppi, claiming the 2-6 6-2 6-2 victory in just under two hours flat. With nine aces and 25 winners to his name, Auger-Aliassime explained that he was glad to “dig deep” and “win ugly”.

“To dig deep and to find a way to, I guess, win ugly in a way and come back from really a poor set of tennis in the first, to come back and win it – yeah, it’s good that I can also win matches that way,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Not only playing my best tennis and winning in straight sets.”

The 19-year-old claimed 55 per cent of the total points across the clash, and while he made a raft of unforced errors, pushed through the issues to take care of the Italian, who claimed their most recent head-to-head at Wimbledon. Meanwhile, seventh seed Cameron Norrie and 12th seed Sebastian Korda both reigned supreme in their respective clashes, winning in straight sets.

CITI OPEN ROUND OF 64 RESULTS:

Steve Johnson (USA) defeated [Q] Ramkumar Ramanathan (IND) 6-3 7-6
Denis Kudla (USA) defeated [WC] Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 6-3 6-7 6-3
Mackenzie McDonald (USA) defeated Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 6-3 6-3
[WC] Brandon Nakashima (USA) defeated Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 6-3 6-3
Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) defeated [Q] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) 2-6 6-1 6-1
Tennys Sandgren (USA) defeated James Duckworth (AUS) 6-3 2-6 6-2
[Q] Elias Ymer (SWE) defeated Jordan Thompson (AUS) 3-6 7-5 6-3

CITI OPEN ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[2] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) defeated Andreas Seppi (ITA) 2-6 6-2 6-2
[7] Cameron Norrie (GBR) defeated Marcos Giron (USA) 6-4 6-3
[12] Sebastian Korda (USA) defeated Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 7-5 6-4
Ricardas Berankis (LTU) defeated [15] Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) 6-3 6-2
[WC] Jenson Brooksby (USA) defeated [16] Frances Tiafoe (USA) 7-6 7-5

Picture credit: Peter Staples/Citi Open