TennisToday

Ryan Harrison Opts for Challenger Tournaments and Moves Up the Rankings

Before the start of the Savannah challenger tourny Ryan was ranked #100.

With the trophy lift on Sunday he bumped that ranking up to #81.

Will lightning strike twice?

This week he's playing the challenger at Tallahassee.

I suppose that feels better than qualifying for tourneys in Europe.

He'll need to go across soon tho.

But in the meantime gobble those challenger points Ryan.

Ryan Harrison Wins 1st Ever Match at Australian Open

Australian Open - Men's First Round

Ryan Harrison d Santiago Giraldo - 26 64 75 64

In his 4th trip Down Under Ryan finally notched a win.

His reward? A 2nd round meeting with #1 seed Novak Djokovic.

Learn from it. And improve from it.

Novak Djokovic into 3rd Round at Wimbledon

Wimbledon - Men's Second Round

1 Novak Djokovic d Ryan Harrison - 64 64 64

Make that 9-in-a-row for Nole at SW19. 5 more wins to defend.

And it was one of those rare indoor matches...

Since the addition of the roof it has only been closed 8 or 9 times.

Post match: It was great to be under the roof once again.

I thought it was a very exciting match to be a part of as a player...

And I thought the crowd enjoyed it as well.

***

It was a good week for Ryan as he was named to the US Olympic team.

He's young. His day will come.

Photo: Getty Images

Micaela Bryan Sure Has Some Famous Fans

Micaela Bryan has a Twitter page y'all.

And she having fun with her father Bob Bryan's famous friends.

So cute.

Ryan Harrison is on His Way to Madrid Y'all

Ryan posted this pic on his Facebook simply captioned: Traveling to Madrid.

He is heading there from Belgrade after suffering a 1st round loss.

Let's hope this travel goes better than his trip to Sebia, of that he wrote:

Maybe the worst trip ever but I finally made it to Belgrade...

After three days of travel but my luggage did not.

Fortunately, I carried on a pair of shoes and my racquets so...

At least I can practice and get ready for my first round match tomorrow.

Ryan is playing Madrid for the 1st time.

Currently ranked #58 he'll be one of the top seeds in the qualifying.

Next year he'll get directly in the main draw. Trust me...

Ryan Harrison Wins First Match at Houston

ATP 250 Houston - First Round

Ryan Harrison d 7 Alex Bogomolov - 46 63 64

Jet lag be damned.

He moves his W/L for the year to 10/10.

Ryan will next face Igor Kunitsyn - they've never played.

He's currently ranked at a career high of #65 - with a bullet.

ATP Players Swim with the Dolphins at Miami

Looks like the dolphin had a blast.

Gillies Simon is seeded #13 at the ATP Masters Series 1000 Miami.

He has a 1st round bye and will play the winner of Seppi/qualifier.

He is in the Murray/Berdych quarter.

Gilles is 5-5 at Miami with his best showing last year: Qf.

Ryan Harrison is currently ranked #73.

He will open against Potito Starace for the right to play Roger Federer.

He is 0-2 at Miami - losing two years running in the 1st round.

Bernard is currently ranked #36.

He will open against Sergiy Stakhovsky for the right to play David Ferrer.

He is 0-1 at Miami losing in the 1st round last year.

Ryan Harrison Advances at Indian Wells

ATP Masters Series 1000 Indian Wells - 2nd Round

Ryan Harrison d 25 Viktor Troicki - 76(5) 63

Nice win for Ryan as he moves his W/L on the year to 8-6.

Remember, this was a sort of breakout tourny in '11 as he made the 4th R.

With Murray's loss last night his path to repeat that success got easier.

He'll play Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Murray's slayer) and oddly enough...

They've played once before: Last year, same tourny, same round, Ryan won.

There's a lot riding on this kid's shoulders. He seems to like it.

So do I.

Ryan Harrison Reaches 1st ATP Qf Since Last Summer

ATP 250 San Jose - Second Round

Ryan Harrison d (W) Robbie Ginepri - 63 26 76(0)

And he saved 2 match points in doing so.

He last played a Qf match at Los Angeles last summer and won.

In fact, he had back-to-back Sf showings - at Atlanta and LA.

He will next face a qualifer today, Ditimar Kutrovsky.

It's only a matter of time before this kid starts winning titles.

This weekend is as good a time as any - if you ask me.

Photo: Getty Images

Ryan Harrison Wins in Davis Cup Debut

Davis Cup 2012 - First Round

Ryan Harrison d Michael Lammer - 76(0) 76(4)

A sweep of Switzerland seemed improbable 3 days ago.

And possibly even more significant...

Today was Ryan's debut match and win in DC play.

Sure it was a dead rubber but welcome to the club.

He may just be the new Andy Roddick for the US DC team.

Definitely one to watch.

Davis Cup 2012 1st Round: Roger Federer had a Pretty Tough Weekend

Davis Cup 1st Round: US d Switzerland 3-0

There's no way I would have ever thought RF would lose 2 matches in 2 days.

That's just crazy.

And they made the American's play on clay in Roger's home country.

In both matches (singles & doubles) he won the 1st set and lost in 4.

I doubt it'll sting for too long...

Roger is the top seed at Rotterdam next week - with a nice draw.

As for the surprised US team - well done guys.

Big, big win for Isner yesterday - biggest win of his career, in fairness.

The US will play the winner of Canada/France - away, again.

Ryan Harrison Thru to Los Angeles Semifinals

Los Angeles ATP 250 - Men's Quarterfinal

Ryan Harrison d Yen-Hsun Lu - 36 63 64

ATP leader: This is Ryan's 12th match win of '11 after dropping the 1st set.

This is also his 2nd straight ATP Sf - he lost last week in Atlanta to Fish.

Ryan may have a rematch with Fish tomorrow. Fish plays Kunitsyn tonight.

He becomes the 1st US teen to reach back-to-back Sf's since Roddick in '02.

Ranking rise: With a Sf showing he will rise to around #83.

The future of American tennis is looking good to me.

Photo: A crappy pic I took of my TV.

Young American Ryan Harrison Wins Opener at Wimbledon

Wimbledon Men's First Round

LL Ryan Harrison d Ivan Dodig - 76(5) 60 75

Ryan lost a 5-setter in the last round of quallies but got a 'lucky loser' entry.

And lookie here - he's taken advantage and is thru to the 2nd round.

This is his 2nd trip to the 2nd round at a Slam: 0-1.

Last year he lost a 2nd R 5th set tie break to Stakhovsky at the US Open.

Tomorrow he'll next face the 7th seed David Ferrer which'll be a tough ask.

But at least they'll have TV cameras wherever he plays.

Photo: Getty Images

Rafael Nadal & Roger Federer Win Tight Matches to Advance at Indian Wells ATP Masters 1000

Indian Wells ATP Masters Series 1000 - Fourth Round

1 Rafael Nadal d Q Somdev Devvarman - 75 64

2 Roger Federer d WC Ryan Harrison - 76(4) 63

What an exciting night of tennis as the top players played back-to-back.

But boy did they get pushed - Somdev & Ryan acquitted themselves nicely.

Rafa didn't look sharp at all - maybe due to it being his 1st night match.

He'll need to sharpen the eyes for that big Ivo Karlovic serve tonight.

Careful: Rafa has lost a set in all 3 matches they played.

***

As for Rog, at one point in the 1st set I actually saw him mutter to himself.

Roger doesn't mutter!

Roger has never (yet) lost to a player born in the 90's. Ryan's born in '91.

One thing we learned last night was that US tennis may have a bright future.

I completely expected Fed to hand Ryan a 61 61 schooling.

Rog will next face friend & dubs partner Stanislas Wawrinka - H2H: 7-1/RF.

***

Rafa & Roger are 2 matches away from their 1st showdown in IW.

But one player looms large in upsetting that Sunday final: Novak Djokovic.

Fed will likely play Noval in the Sf's. Novak has won their last two - easily.

Fed & Novak are also in battle for the #2 ranking here and in Miami.

Things are getting good - stay tuned...

Photos: Getty Images

Henri LeConte is Killing Ryan Harrison in Adelaide

Yea. Evidently Henri is the Jerry Lewis of the legends tour.

***

I hear young Ryan may pull from AO11 cuz his sides have split.

Photos: Getty Images

Strip Tennis Anyone?

You know I 100% love that kooky Michael Llodra! Like, big time.

Looks like Henri Leconte has watched in a lot of Jerry Lewis over the years.

And poor Ryan, doesn't quite know how to play along.

Two Frenchmen & a New Yorker - its bound to get a little crazy.

Davis Cup Semifinal Day Five Results

France defeats Argentina 5-0

4. Gilles Simon d Eduardo Schwank - 76(5) 67(6) 63

5. Arnaud Clement d Horacio Zeballos - 75 61

The weekend didn't just belong to Llodra - Clement won two matches too.

The French team will now be going to their 10th DC title - in France.

Their last title came in 2001 defeating Australia at Melbourne Park.

Common denominator: Arnaud Clement was part of that '01 team.

***

Serbia defeated Czech Republic 3-2

4. Novak Djokovic d Tomas Berdych - 46 63 62 64

5. Janko Tipsaveric d Radek Stepanek - 60 76(6) 64

Nice come from behind win for Serbia - dinner at Novak's!

This would be a great way to cap Novak's year - with a DC title.

I do love this photo of him:

***

USA defeated Colombia 3-1

4 Mardy Fish d Santiago Giraldo - 36 63 75 46 86

This keeps the US in the World Group for the Cup in 2011.

It also allows Patrick McEnroe to step down with a win.

Mardy is the first USplayer to win 3 matches since Pete Sampras in '95.

Not surprising -the Bryan Bros kept Roddick & Blake to singles for 10 years.

Photos: AP/Getty Images/Reuters

Vanity Fair Serves Up a Tennis Player Photo Spread

Hey, well done Vanity Fair! See the other photos at their website.

 

 

 

Photos: Justin Bishop for Vanity Fair

Ryan Harrison Loses Match but Gains Fans at US Open

US Open - Men's Second Round

Sergiy Stakhovsky d Ryan Harrison - 63 57 36 63 76(6)

Ryan had 3 match points in the 5th set tie-break. Tough, tough loss.

But I hope he looks at it as a good loss.

This was Ryan's 1st US Open and his 1st 5 set match.

The 18 year-old got a little taste of the 'big time' that should await him.

But guys, it's not going to happen overnight - give him time.

His ranking will get a nice bump up from his current #220.

Good news: He's still alive in doubles. Men's with Robert Kendrick and...

Mixed doubles with Melanie Oudin - suddenly a team to really cheer for.

Photo: Reuters