Daniel Phillips is two victories away from another title on the International Tennis Federation junior tour after advancing to the semi-finals of the J4 Bayamón in Puerto Rico with a pair of straight-sets triumphs.

The 17-year-old Bermudian, who dropped only two games in his opening two matches, encountered his first spell of adversity in the third round yesterday when he was pushed the distance in the second set by Vasco Trocca, of Italy, before winning the tiebreak 7-5 for a 6-0, 7-6 success.

Then in the quarter-finals today against Lucca Pignaton, the No 15 seed from Brazil, Phillips took ten of the last 14 games from down 3-2 in the first set to win 6-3, 6-4 in a hard-fought contest.

The Brazilian had earlier shocked fourth-seeded American Meethre Barot 7-5, 5-7, 7-6.

That result had left the sixth-seeded Phillips as the highest-ranked player in the bottom half of the draw, with Swedish second seed Jeiden Saidizand having gone out in the second round against unranked American David Krashner in a big upset.

Krashner’s fairytale run — he had knocked off Spanish No 13 seed Bernardo Munk Mesa in the third round — came to an end in the last eight today when he was beaten 6-3, 6-3 by compatriot Maxwell Exsted, the No 9 seed, who tomorrow stands between Phillips and a place in the final.

The top half of the draw features two seeded players in the other semi-final, where Phillips’s doubles partner, Cyrus Mahjoob, the No 9 seed from the US, will face fifth-seeded compatriot Elias Shokry.

Phillips and Mahjoob were the second seeds in doubles, but they, too, were hit by the upset bug in Puerto Rico when they went down 7-6, 7-5 in the quarter-finals to sixth seeds Matvey Greschner and Tyler Nguyen, of the US.