Fritz is youngest American in semis

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Taylor Fritz celebrates after defeating Benjamin Becker, of Germany, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (5) in a quarterfinal at the Memphis Open tennis tournament Friday, Feb. 12, 2016, in Memphis, Tenn.

Memphis - The teenager, in the event as a wild card ranked 145th in the world, will play Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania on Saturday.

By AP

Published: Sun 14 Feb 2016, 4:51 PM

Teenager Taylor Fritz beat Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (5) on Friday at the Memphis Open, becoming the youngest American to reach an ATP Tour semifinal since 1989. Fritz needed 2 hours, 20 minutes to continue his amazing run at The Racquet Club. Fritz, who turned 18 on Oct. 28, used his big serve and strong forehand to advance to his first career ATP semifinal as the youngest American since Michael Chang won Wembley in 1989 at the age of 17
"It feels incredible," Fritz said. "You know it's a great milestone. ... I always say this is reassuring to know that I'm doing the right thing and I'm on the right track. But got to just keep doing my own thing and not let all the milestones get in your head or anything like that."
The teenager, in the event as a wild card ranked 145th in the world, will play Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania on Saturday. Berankis upset No. 3 seed Donald Young 7-6, 6-1, needing 80 minutes to advance.
Three-time defending champion Kei Nishikori beat Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-4 at night to extend his match winning streak to 15 in Memphis. Nishikori will play fourth-seeded Sam Querrey, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka, in a rematch of their semifinal last year.
Becker, in his third quarterfinal at this event, had a chance to close Fritz out in the tiebreaker serving at 5-5. Becker hit a backhand long on each of the next two points, prompting the teenager to celebrate with a fist pump and dropping his racket.
"It's incredible," Fritz said. "I can't believe it. Just an amazing feeling, especially after the match I just had coming back ... he was serving for the match and to come back and win it in that way and tough it out, I'll never forget that." Fritz came out strong despite having hotel security called on him around 1:30 a.m. for making too much noise at the ice machine for a bath.