Five things to know about Brayden Schnur

UNIONDALE, N.Y.—Before this week's New York Open, Canadian 23-year-old Brayden Schnur had never won a main-draw ATP match. Now, he's set to play Sam Querrey on Saturday afternoon for a spot in the tournament's final.

The world No. 154 came through qualifying and then won three bouts in the main draw, recording three-set victories over Paolo Lorenzi and No. 3 seed Steve Johnson. Schnur's semifinal run comes when he's pretty much brand new on the ATP Tour, so here are five things to know before he plays against Querrey:

1

He recently had the flu.

Schnur said after his quarterfinal win that his friends had been encouraging him by saying his big break was going to come when he wasn't expecting it.

"Sure enough, this week I show up here, [and] I’m pretty tired—[I] came off the flu," he said. "Now I’m in the semifinals—it’s pretty crazy.”

2

He played college tennis for North Carolina.

The Daily Tar Heel writes that Schnur was an All-American in each of his three seasons in Chapel Hill prior to his turning turning pro in 2016.

3

He already has a trophy in 2019.

Just last month, Schnur defeated Mackie McDonald and Donald Young en route to the final of the Newport Beach Challenger in California. He fell in that final to Taylor Fritz.

4

He brought hot shots to the New York quarterfinal:

Schnur's forehand and backhand were both working in his ever-so-tight comeback win versus Lorenzi.

5

His tongue is sticking out in a shockingly high percentage of his playing pictures:

Schnur's semifinal with Querrey is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. Eastern. It will be their first official meeting.