In April of 2008, Ryan Harrison became the third youngest player since 1990—behind Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet—to win an ATP main-draw match when he beat Pablo Cuveas 6-4, 6-3 at 15 years and 11 months old. Like Donald Young a few years before him, Harrison was touted as the next great thing in American tennis.
Fast forward five years and Harrison is still toiling outside the Top 100 in the world after a brief stint as high as No. 43 in the rankings in July of 2012. But perhaps the relatively gradual rise—if you can even call it that—may not be such a terrible thing. After all, Jennifer Capriati’s appearance in the WTA Top 10 as a 14-year-old likely did more harm than good (although she eventually overcame myriad issues to have a solid, major-winning career). For Harrison, an extended stay on the Challenger circuit and a multitude of ATP first-round setbacks are only fueling his fire.
After losing his Newport opener last month, for example, Harrison went straight to Boca Raton and spent 11 days training with the USTA development team prior to the BB&T Atlanta Open.
“I had a whole team of guys that was down there supporting me,” the 21-year-old explained. “The whole player development crew, all the guys down there were really behind me, keeping me in a hard-working mindset. I can’t thank those guys enough for how much support they’ve given me throughout a rough to the season. I know that if I keep putting in the kind of hard work I’ve been putting in over the last couple weeks, it’s going to bring out the good things. If I keep pushing myself to that extreme, it’s going to be a fun year.”
Things finally started getting fun Harrison in Atlanta, where he had reached the semifinals in 2011 in addition to a pair of past triumphs in the USTA’s Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs. He beat Marinko Matosevic in three sets, recovered from a 4-0 first-set deficit to upset No. 4 seed Igor Sijsling 6-4, 6-3, then outdueled Santiago Giraldo in a third-set tiebreaker to advance to the semis.
“I love playing here in Atlanta,” Harrison assured after his win over Giraldo. “I had my first-ever breakthrough tournament and I won a wild-card event here when I was 17. And I won that event again the next year. So I actually started here in Atlanta 9-0 as a professional. Now I’m back in the semis again, so I can’t say I don’t love playing here.”
Harrison loved it so much this time around that he continued playing even after his tournament was over. Following a 6-3, 7-6(3) loss to second-seeded Kevin Anderson (during which the underdog had a 0-40 opportunity on Anderson’s serve in the second set) in a Saturday night semifinal, Harrison exited the Stadium, marched directly to the Grandstand, and promptly had a 15-minute practice with coach Jay Berger.
While Ryan was doing that, younger brother Christian was busy taking out former world No. 67 Illya Marchenko in a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(7) qualifying thriller in Washington, D.C. That was about 48 hours after the 19-year-old had played the match of his life against John Isner in the Atlanta second round. Christian, who had defeated Alejandro Falla 6-1, 6-7(7), 6-2 in his first-ever ATP main-draw match, pushed the eventual champion for two hours and 24 minutes before falling 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-5. Christian won 110 total points to Isner’s 109, including a 101-80 advantage on points that did not result in aces.
“Probably one of the biggest crowds I’ve ever played in front of,” Christian reflected. “I felt I handled it well. I’ve worked hard and tried to put myself in a position like that. It’s still tough losing but hopefully I can get a couple more chances this summer. I’ll be able to look back on that and use that as motivation over my next matches and practices days. Hopefully I can build on it and keep maintaining the hard work and better things will come.”
“I was super proud of him,” Ryan said of his brother’s performance. “He came in here and played his first tour event and it looked like he had been doing it for 10 years. The way he handled himself, he was a true professional. Christian played his heart out. After the match, the only thing he was talking about was the experience and how awesome it was. He was just thinking about doing 100 pushups because he wanted to gain a little bit. He actually did a small workout after that match. He works his butt off.”
“This is a match where a guy like Christian doesn’t have much to lose,” Isner commented. “That person can play either horrible or pretty good, and I thought he played well. He’s a very good player. I was fortunate just to win. He’s up-and-coming. We use that term a lot, but he really is. I know he’s a good player and I know he’s gonna be a very good player in the future. He didn’t play that many loose games at all. He competes well and from what I hear he trains extremely hard. He has a bright future.”
Anyone who watched doubles at the 2012 U.S. Open could have already known as much. Ryan lost in the second round in singles (in four sets to 2009 champion Juan Martin Del Potro) and Christian dropped his qualifying opener, but together they were a fearsome duo. The Harrison brothers scored consecutive stunners of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, and Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins to reach the quarterfinals. Ryan and Christian were just 20 and 18 years old, respectively.
One of the best crowds in all of tennis—certainly the best in North America—were completely won over by the Harrisons and a many more will follow suit…if, of course, winning is involved. While winning is the key factor gain crowd support, fans also get behind hard work and emotion on sleeves. Both Ryan and Christian are well-equipped in both departments.
“To me the whole thing was just a lot of fun,” Ryan responded when asked about blasting a ball onto the highway after losing a point against Giraldo. “Things go bad here and there; things don’t feel great all the time, especially in such a close match, but there was a lot of fun out there. The crowd was awesome. There was a ton of energy and I’m an energetic person; whenever there’s that much stuff going on, I’m going to be alive. My feet are going, my energy’s up, I’m excited.”
“I’ve worked really hard on my movement,” Christian explained after his victory over Falla. “Try to make sure whenever it’s hot and humid out here that I’m the fitter one. That’s what I try to do. To come through in a tough three-setter was good for me. For me, to get the goals where I want to reach, it starts on the practice court and getting a good attitude out there. Making sure you’re working harder than everybody else. It’s tough to just jump into a tournament and expect to do well. It doesn’t really work that way. Once you start putting more time on the practice courts and focusing hard on getting the most out of each day, results will start to come.”
They may come just in time, too, for American fans. Bob and Mike Bryan plan to retire after the 2016 Rio Olympics. Ryan will be 24. Christian will be 22. Get ready for “The Harrison Brothers” to join “the Bryan Brothers” among common vernacular in the tennis world. And they may not even have to play doubles together in order it to happen. Not if what we saw in Atlanta—both in victory and in defeat—is a precursor of the future.
If it is, as Isner said: the future is bright.
[polldaddy poll=7293325]
I’m happy to see Christian doing well. I didn’t know, but he was out like 2 years because of cancer like disease or something he had in his leg. I heard that when he practiced with a player from of the same academy at last year’s USO, the mother of the player said something like “Christian was really skinny before”. Nice to see him doing well.