Matteo Berrettini vs Brandon Nakashima Prediction & Picks - ATP Shanghai Masters

Prediction published on 10/8/26, 8:29 AM  by Tyler Doty | Modified on 10/8/26 at 8:32 AM in ATP Shanghai Masters Picks

Brandon Nakashima has been through a roller coaster of emotions these past few weeks. The American first played his best tennis during the first leg of the North American tour, with an unfortunate loss in the final in Montreal followed by a semifinal appearance in Cincinnati shortly after. Those performances had propelled him into the world’s top 20 ahead of the U.S. Open, and he arrived in New York with high hopes. Unfortunately, however, his run in the Big Apple didn’t go as planned, as he was knocked out in the second round. It was a huge disappointment that the Californian had to swallow. In Tokyo last week, Brandon Nakashima disappointed again with a first-round exit against Ugo Humbert in a tournament where he was considered an underdog. He hopes to put an end to these two consecutive poor performances at the Shanghai Masters 1000.

After an unremarkable North American swing, with second-round exits in Cincinnati and at the US Open, Matteo Berrettini hopes to regain momentum in Asia. In Tokyo, the Italian reached the second round but had knocked out Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the previous round, a solid performance worth noting. In his debut in China, the world No. 46 battled hard but ultimately prevailed over American Aleksandar Kovacevic (6-7, 6-1, 6-4) in a match where the Italian (known for recurring physical issues) managed to hold up physically. Matteo Berrettini will need to build on this victory on Friday, which remains a challenge.