MEMPHIS — Donald Young upset No. 2 seed John Isner 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (6) Friday night in the quarterfinals at the Memphis Open for his first victory in four tries over the world’s 23rd-ranked player.
Young reached his seventh career semifinal and second in Memphis by overcoming the big-serving American in the tiebreakers of a match that took 2 hours, 23 minutes.
Young will play fellow American Ryan Harrison Saturday with the indoor tournament up for grabs with Isner having been the last seeded player left. Harrison beat Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina 6-3, 6-4 in the late match.
Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan upset fourth-seeded Steve Johnson 6-0, 6-4 earlier Friday, needing only 70 minutes to advance to the semifinals. Kukushkin will play Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia Saturday.
Basilashvili, who upset top-seeded Ivo Karlovic in the second round, reached his second straight ATP Tour semifinal by beating qualifier Matthew Ebden of Australia 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Nishikori in semis
Top-seeded Kei Nishikori is finding his footing on clay.
After struggling in his first match in the Argentina Open, the Japanese defeated No. 6 Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-1, 6-4 Friday to reach the semifinals of the outdoor clay-court event.
Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain and Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine also reached the last four.
Carreno Busta defeated fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, and Dolgopolov won over Gerald Melzer of Austria 7-5, 6-4.
Carreno Busta will face Dolgopolov in one semifinal, while Nishikori faces either Carlos Berlocq of Argentina or Thiago Monteiro of Brazil.— Agencies
