American teen Taylor Fritz reaches final in 3rd ATP event

Benjamin Becker, of Germany, returns a shot to Taylor Fritz in a quarterfinal at the Memphis Open tennis tournament Friday, Feb. 12, 2016, in Memphis, Tenn.

The crowd at The Racquet Club, most of whom had never heard of the American teenager a week ago, were chanting his name, captivated by his youth, power and potential.

The victory moved Fritz into his first quarterfinal on the ATP Tour, becoming the first American 18-year-old to reach the quarters of a tour event since Denis Kudla at Newport in 2011. Fritz has taken the growing adulation – and the attempts to topple him – in stride.

Kei Nishikori overcame a slow start to beat 58th-ranked American Sam Querrey in a three-set semifinal on Saturday, keeping alive his hopes of winning a fourth consecutive Memphis Open title.

“It’s incredible, I can’t believe it”, Fritz said.

The 2015 junior world No. 1 is projected to rise to No. 103 by reaching the final.

The Japanese lefty had expressed excitement about the prospect of facing compatriot Nishikori for the first time in an ATP World Tour event, but Querrey, who made the final four in last year’s event, gave the qualifier nothing to work with. Nishikori had to fight back to deuce a couple times before finally putting a forehand into the corner to finish off the match. “You know it’s a great milestone….” But I was able to turn it around and that makes it twice as good.

Among the tactics might be recalling the mindset and playing style of a teenager having a breakout week.

“I’m happy for the victory”, Nadal said. “I wasn’t thinking anything then”. I didn’t think there was much I could do. I had nothing to lose.

“I played the big points well”, Fritz said.

Berankis upset third seed Donald Young 7-6 (7-3) 6-1.

Berankis captured the first set in only 32 minutes, but Fritz broke in the sixth and eighth games of the second set, then held at love to force a third.

“It’s incredible”, Fritz said. “He was making me look very bad”. “I tried to change things up in my game”.

A double fault by Berankis handed Fritz a 2-1 edge in the last set. I was getting outplayed in every way possible. “It was a lot to take in”.

Fritz’s first-serve percentage increased from 48 to 58 and the aces followed. He hit 10 of his 17 aces in the final set.

“The ball is fine for a different court”, Querrey said. “I struggled a little bit in the second set”. That was the biggest difference.

Berankis admitted it was hard handling Fritz’s serves, many of which reached 125 miles per hour in the final two sets. He didn’t miss and he started to serve a lot better.

In just his fifth main-draw match, Fritz’s blitz is one of the fastest American trips to an ATP final in the Open Era. Thiem is two wins away from another winner’s trophy after taking out Pablo Carreno Busta, Gastao Elias (saved one match point), and Dusan Lajovic.