Hangzhou Open: Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong takes Brandon Nakashima to the brink before exiting
Hongkonger wins first set and has two match points before world No 39 American pulls away to win the deciding set
Coleman Wong came within two match points of pulling off a shock win at the Hangzhou Open on Friday, before losing in three sets to No 4 seed Brandon Nakashima.
In a tussle for supremacy, the first two sets went to tie-breaks, before Nakashima pulled away to eventually win 6-7, 7-6, 6-1 in two hours and 40 minutes.
“It was a super-difficult match, down match points, but managed to come through,” the American, who recovered from 6-5 down in the second set, said in a courtside interview.
In the previous round of the tournament, Wong, ranked world No 141, had benefited from the retirement of Chinese wild card Wu Yibing, who lost the first set 6-3 before withdrawing with a back injury.
World No 39 Nakashima will now face Australian Rinky Hijikata in the quarter-finals at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre.
Hijikata, who is ranked world No 81, got through after receiving a walkover from Hungarian seventh seed Fabian Marozsan.
