Virginia tennis star Nakashima leaves after freshman year to turn pro

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia’s men’s tennis team suffered a major blow on Wednesday when ACC Freshman of the Year Brandon Nakashima announced that he is turning pro and will not return to the school.

Nakashima came to UVA as the No. 4-ranked junior in the world and lived up to that billing as a freshman for the Cavaliers. He recorded a 17-5 record in singles and went 20-3 in doubles, finishing his rookie season ranked No. 64 nationally in singles and No. 11 in doubles.

After a sterling first year, followed by an outstanding run over the summer in a number of ATP Challenger circuit events, his world ranking jumped from No. 942 to No. 370 in only seven events. During that span, Nakashima knocked off several experienced pros, including former UVA standout Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, Chris Eubanks, Michael Mmoh, Taro Daniel and James Duckworth.

“These results have helped me gain a lot of confidence in my game and it shows that I can play with these top guys,” the 18-year-old Nakashima told BaselineTennis.com after an event in California. “It was a tough decision, but this is what’s best for me and I’m happy to start my professional career. I’m looking forward to competing against top guys and hopefully continuing to improve my game.”

Nakashima was first-team All-ACC, State Rookie of the Year, ACC Freshman of the Year and ITA Atlantic Region Rookie of the Year.

“On behalf of our student-athletes, coaches and fans, I would like to wish Brandon the very best of luck on the professional tour and thank him for always representing the orange and blue with tremendous pride and class,” UVA director of tennis and men’s coach Andres Pedroso said.

“Brandon made everyone associated with our program better during his time in Charlottesville and I know he will have the same positive impact on people as a professional tennis player. There is now question that Brandon has a very bright future ahead of him and I look forward to watching him achieve his goals on the ATP Tour.”