Saturday's semifinals are set with two seeds remaining in the hunt at the Memphis Open. Top seed Kei Nishikori and fourth seed Sam Querrey were both winners on Friday.
Nishikori Wins Again
Kei Nishikori has had very little go wrong for him the past few years in Memphis. On Friday, he won his 15th straight match at the Memphis Open. His 6-2, 6-4 win over Mikhail Kukushkin took an hour and 31 minutes. Nishikori had Kukushkin under constant pressure on serve in the opening set. He would force seven break points and convert on two with the first coming in game three. The top seed would only need to save one break point on his own serve and did so as he cruised through the first set. The second set would be more strenuous. Both players were serving well as holds were the name of the game through the first eight games. Kukushkin managed to save five break points in that span, but finally gave into the pressure in the 9th game. Nishikori would break on his second chance and close out the match after a little struggle in the next game, where he saved a pair of break points.
Nishikori said after the match that he was happy to be through in straight sets, “Everything was working well for me,” Nishikori said. “I struggled a bit in the second set, but he hit some great shots. So I just had to focus on what I had to do. It was great to finish in two sets.”
Querrey Marches On, Young Upset
Two other seeds were in action on Friday. Fourth seed Sam Querrey was able to work past qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-4. Querrey's serve was on point in the match as he crushed 11 aces in the win. He would face two break points and save both. Nishioka kept pace well with the American, but was broken once in each set to hand Querrey a semifinal berth. Third seed Donald Young was an upset victim in the quarterfinals. Ricardas Berankis edged past Young 7-6 (3), 6-1. Young started slowly as he was broken to open the match, but stayed in it mentally as he worked his way back even at 3-3. Both men would manage service holds the rest of the way to push the set into a tiebreak.
In the tiebreak, the third seed would blink first as Berankis took a point off his serve to go up a mini-break 3-2. Young would not recover as Berankis rode out to a 7-3 win in the breaker. The second set would get away from the American in the fourth game. That is where Berankis secured the decisive break to go up 3-1. He would consolidate that break and get one more for good measure as the Lithuanian closed out the second set at 6-1 in just 29 minutes.
Fritz Secures Spot in First ATP Semifinal
The highlight match of the day featured up and coming American teen Taylor Fritz against veteran Benjamin Becker. The 18-year-old Fritz crafted a magical 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (5) escape act to become the youngest American to make an ATP level semifinal since Michael Chang, then 17, won the Wembley title in 1989. After splitting the first two sets, Fritz found himself on the wrong end of the score line late as Becker led 6-5 and served for the match. Fritz would break Becker and fore the decisive tiebreak.
In the breaker, Fritz would strike first and go up 2-1 with a mini-break. He would give that back though and the score sat at 3-3 at the first changeover. After exchanging service holds over the next four points, it would be the teen who took the second point off Becker's serve to go up 6-5. Fritz would serve out the match for his best result to-date. Following the match, he was understandably excited above making his first semifinal, saying “It’s incredible, I can’t believe it. To come back in that way, with him serving for the match, I’ll never forget that.”
Saturday's Semifinals
The two seeds left in the draw will face each other in one semifinal today. Top seed Kei Nishikori will seek his fourth straight win over Sam Querrey. They met at this same stage last year with Nishikori winning a hard fought 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) battle. The other semifinal features Taylor Fritz and Ricardas Berankis meeting for the first time. It is a huge chance for both players. Fritz can make his first ATP final with a win, while Berankis seeks just his second. Berankis' lone ATP final came in 2012 in Los Angeles.