Rafael Nadal will look to stay undefeated on hard courts in 2013 when he kicks off his U.S. Open campaign on Monday. Up first for Nadal is Ryan Harrison.
Rafael Nadal and Ryan Harrison will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time this season when they collide in round one of the U.S. Open on Monday afternoon. Their only previous encounter came at the same stage of the Indian Wells Masters, where Nadal prevailed 7-6(3), 6-2.
The second-ranked Spaniard eventually captured the Indian Wells title, just as he has at every hard-court event he has played this season. Nadal just pulled off the Montreal-Cincinnati double, a stretch that included wins over Jerzy Janowicz, Novak Djokovic, Milos Raonic, Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych, and John Isner. The 12-time Grand Slam champion is 53-3 overall for the season, which features an incredible nine titles–one of which is the French Open.
Harrison peaked as high as No. 43 in the world last summer, but 2013 has been a major disappointment. Although the 21-year-old American is just 11-8 at the ATP level this season, he has shown some signs of recovery throughout the summer. Harrison reached the semifinals in Atlanta, beat Lleyton Hewitt in Washington, D.C. before losing to Juan Martin Del Potro, and he got past Alexandr Dolgopolov in Cincinnati prior to a 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4 setback against David Ferrer.
A horrific draw continues a streak of bad luck for Harrison at Grand Slams: Robin Soderling in the first round of the French Open in 2011, Ferrer in the second round of Wimbledon in 2011, Marin Cilic in the first round of the 2011 U.S. Open, Andy Murray in the first round of the 2012 Australian Open, Djokovic in the second round of Wimbledon in 2012, Del Potro in the second round of the 2012 U.S. Open, and Djokovic again in the second round of this year’s Australian Open. This one has to be the worst of all given Nadal’s current form, and–once again–it likely won’t end well for Harrison.
This could be competitive for a while as Nadal gets settled into the tournament, but the No. 2 seed should roll in the end.
Pick: Nadal in 3, losing 11-13 games
[polldaddy poll=7345101]
Leave a Reply