No. 16-seeded American Brandon Nakashima ousted in second round of US Open

The narrative entering the U.S.Open was that a wide-open men’s draw could lead to an American men’s breakthrough.No Jannik Sinner.

No Novak Djokovic after the opening night.A rusty Carlos Alcaraz coming off a wrist injury.But in the early going, the tournament hasn’t gone according to that plan.Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe haven’t looked sharp, struggling in early-round victories, and Wednesday afternoon, Brandon Nakashima was sent home.

The 16th-seeded American fell in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to Alex Michelsen at the Grandstand.“He played a solid match, but from my end, that wasn’t close to the level that I can play at,” Nakashima said.It was a surprising result.Nakashima has had a strong year, reaching the semifinals at the Cincinnati Open and the final of the Canadian Open.

He recently rose to a career-best singles world ranking of No.17.“It has been a lot of new experiences for me, with maybe a little bit more added pressure, a little bit more with media and everything,” Nakashima said.

“I have to embrace it as much as possible, and try to find a way to kind of block out all the added noise and pressure, and just kind of focus on what I need to do out there and try to play well.”For the second time in as many matches, Shelton dropped a set.Hubert Hurkacz pushed him in the four-setter at Arthur Ashe Stadium that wasn’t decided until Shelton broke Hurkacz’s serve to close out the match.“I know I was never down in terms of set score, but the momentum definitely shifted.

I mean, he hit another gear when I was up a set and a break, and the match [went from] fully in my control to up in the air,” the eighth-seeded Shelton said after his 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-5 victory.“So I think the second half of the match, the level that he was playing, to be able to get out of that one in four sets, close it out the way I did, I thought that I found so many things in terms of game style that I want to be playing towards the end of that m...