By Sally Milano, USTA.com
American Ryan Harrison advanced to his first career ATP final Saturday by defeating fellow American Donald Young, 6-4, 6-4, in the semifinals of the Memphis Open.
Harrison, who needed five match points before beating Young, will take on Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in Sunday's final. Basilashvili advanced with a 7-6 (5), 6-1, win over Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan to reach the second ATP final of his career.
“It’s surreal right now. I’ve hit some obstacles in my career where I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do this,” Harrison said in his on-court interview following the match. “Donald played unbelievable on all of those match points, and I didn’t do anything wrong, so I told myself not to panic, smile it off and keep doing what I can. I’m just glad I could get the win.”
Harrison has not dropped a set en route to the Memphis final, taking out Konstantin Kravchuk of Russia in the first round, No. 3 seed Sam Querrey of the U.S. in the second round and Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina in the quarterfinals before his win over Young in the semifinals.
The 24-year-old from Austin, Texas, has been on a hot streak as of late, claiming the singles title at the $100,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Dallas earlier this month.
Currently ranked 62nd in the ATP rankings, Harrison is expected to move into the world's Top 50 when the new rankings are released Monday. His career-high ranking is No. 43, which he reached in July 2012.