This time 12 months ago, Brandon Nakashima was in a tough place. After turning professional in 2020, he quickly rose through the ranks as a youngster, breaking into the top 100 in the world rankings while still a teenager and climbing to No.43 in the world in October 2022.

Less than a year later, he had plummeted outside of the top 150. His confidence was at rock bottom as the losses started to pile up.

“I think last year definitely the confidence was a little bit down” he recalls. “I lost a lot of close matches. You know, after a few, they kind of pile up.

“The confidence starts to go down, but I was still, you know, training hard, working hard in the gym and on the practice courts.”

Despite his hard work, he was dumped out of the US Open in the first round, as he had been in every Grand Slam in 2023. But just weeks after his Flushing Meadows disappointment, and as he prepared for another slide down the rankings, there was a turning point.

After claiming his first-ever win against a top-10 opponent, beating Holger Rune at the Shanghai Masters, Nakashima turned a corner.

Fast forward less than 12 months, and the 23-year-old from San Diego is a man transformed. He’s into the fourth round of the US Open, the furthest he has ever got in a Grand Slam, and is back inside the top 50 having played some of the best tennis of his life.

“This year, I mean, played a lot of matches and got a lot of good wins. The confidence definitely back up there.

“You know, when you’re playing confident out there, you’re hitting through your shots a little bit more and just kind of playing a little bit more freely.”

Nakashima’s confidence was flowing on Court 17 on Thursday night as he weathered the storm of Lorenzo Musetti’s extravagant shot-making plus some passionate Italian fans to win their third round match-up in four sets.

“It was a great win for me,” he said. “Super exciting atmosphere out there.

“You know, I thought both of us were playing at a really high level the whole match. I’m just really happy to get through.

“He’s definitely a very talented player. You know, he’s gonna have a lot of kind of ups and downs during the match, and you just kind of have to ride the wave as best as possible.

“I think I got off to a really good start. You know, I expected him to kind of raise his level, as well.

“He did end up playing a lot better the second set, and it was just a matter of kind of fighting for every point in the third set and kind of chipping away to kind of find the break. I thought both of us were playing at a really high level today.”

The win guarantees Nakashima a huge $325,000 (£247,500) payday in prize money for getting this far, but he has ambitions to keep his run going. Next up his a huge test against No.4 seed Alexander Zverev on Sunday.

While he will again be the underdog, his confidence has grown with every passing match. He’s now in an “exciting” position with the belief he can go deep into major tournaments, just as he is doing right now.

“I think it’s a combination of everything, really. I think my team and I have done a really good job putting in the hard work in the gym and on the practice court.

“And with every match, just kind of building that confidence more and more. To be able to make these deep runs at these big tournaments, you know, it’s very exciting for us. You know, it’s nice to see kind of the hard work paying off.