Fritz Flies Into First Final

There seems to be no stopping Taylor Fritz this week at the Memphis Open. The 18-year-old American put himself in elite company on Saturday, rallying past Ricardas Berankis 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach his first ATP World Tour final.

At 18 years and three months, Fritz became the youngest American to reach a tour-level final since then 17-year-old Michael Chang won the Wembley 1989 crown. He is also the first American teenager in a title match since Andy Roddick finished runner-up in Montreal in 2002, and is the second teen finalist on the ATP World Tour this year, following Borna Coric‘s run in Chennai (l. to Wawrinka).

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” said Fritz. “To be here and think that it’s the final is crazy. I’m really excited that I got to this level and I’ve proven myself that I belong here.

“It’s amazing to have this support. I feel so loved here. It’s the best feeling in the world. I owe a lot to the crowd pumping me up.”

Fritz was on the ropes early as Berankis ran away with the opening set behind three breaks of serve. But the wild card shed his nerves as the match progressed. Cool under pressure as he has been all week, Fritz stayed the course after being broken to love in the seventh game of the second set. He broke back immediately and would force a decider. In the third, the 18 year old earned a pair of breaks on Berankis double faults, eventually closing it out on his fifth match point after one hour and 41 minutes.

“I honestly felt he was unbeatable in the first set,” Fritz added. “He was making me look awful. I didn’t think there was much I could do. I tried to change things up in my game. He was returning my serves and putting me on defence. In the second set, I told myself that the way I was serving wasn’t going to cut it. I needed to crank it up a lot. I started hitting my serves 5-10 miles per hour faster. That was the biggest difference. Once I was holding my serve, it put pressure on him. That’s what allowed me to play my game more and allowed me to win.”

Fritz, who closed his 2015 campaign with two ATP Challenger Tour titles (Sacramento & Fairfield) in three finals and opened 2016 with a win in Happy Valley, Australia, is making a seamless transition to the ATP World Tour. Competing in just his third tour-level event, he is already well ahead of the curve:

Tournaments Played To Reach First Final (current Top 10)

The California native’s rise to the precipice of the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings is astounding, having resided at World No. 935 a year ago. He is bidding to become the first teen to earn an ATP World Tour title since Marin Cilic in New Haven 2008, when he battles either top seed Kei Nishikori or fellow American Sam Querrey on Sunday. The most recent American winner in Memphis was Andy Roddick in 2011. Roddick, Andre Agassi and Stefan Edberg are the lone teenage champions in the 40-year history of the ATP World Tour 250 event.

Berankis, meanwhile, was competing in his second ATP World Tour semi-final, following a run to the last four in Los Angeles 2012.

“I was very close,” said Berankis. “I played very well in the first set. Everything was working. In the second set, I started to play a little more careful and Taylor took his chances and was all over me… You always have to keep up the plan and continue the same way throughout the match.”