Harrison's effort boost for U.S. hopes

NEW YORK

This one got away, but others won’t. Even in defeat, Ryan Harrison offered further evidence that he will be the front-runner in the new generation of American tennis players after reaching three match points in a five-set thriller against Sergiy Stakhovsky before going down, 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6).

STAY ON SERVE

 

Keep up to speed with all the news and commentary from the U.S. Open.

Check out our galleries from the men's final, Super Saturday, the second week's action, first week action, the best fashion statements and courtside celebrities.

Recap your favorite players' tournament paths with our men's and women's singles draws.

 

The crowds were hanging over the railings high above the Grandstand Court to witness the 18-year-old from Louisiana go through his paces against a talented Ukrainian who came into the U.S. Open off a title-winning performance in New Haven and a career-high ranking of 36. And Ryan gave them plenty to cheer about.

His father, a former college player, had recognized his athletic abilities at an early age and taught him the benefits of an all-around game. With his big serve, speed at the back of the court and his skill at the net, Harrison has options and he used them well — changing up on his backhand from double-hander to one-handed slice and then using his forehand to hit 17 of his 63 winners.

Many others came at the net, as Harrison used the speed of the court to get forward, winning 70 percent of the 43 serve-and-volley points he played.

“I don’t want to be exclusively a serve and volleyer,” Harrison said. “But I served and volleyed an incredible amount today because the guy had a one-handed backhand and he was chipping a lot of them. So it’s going to be floating, and I want to get in and take it off.”

Harrison went into the match with an exact plan of how he wanted to play, and it so very nearly succeeded. He displayed a lot of cool and impressive maturity for a teenager in fighting back from 1-3 down in the fifth and then digging himself out of a 0-40 hole in the fifth game, which would have cost him another break.

Instead, he went to work on Stakhovsky’s serve and, after a terrific lob, eventually broke back by following a careful backhand-to-backhand rally with a lovely forehand winner up the line.

He was trailing 1-3 in the decisive breaker, too, until he got back into it with the most spectacular point of the match. Harrison, running at full tilt, smacked a forehand down the line, and Stakhovsky flung himself to his left to try and make a mid-air volley. But he netted. The Ukrainian’s double fault gave Harrison a 5-3 lead and when his opponent netted a backhand, he had three match points.

Stakhovsky saved the first two with big first serves. Then Harrison takes up the story: “I wanted to play a long point and give myself an opportunity to break him down, but he didn’t miss. I ended up missing (with a backhand into the net) and then I just kind of fell apart from there. I double-faulted at 6-all — you know, it just wasn’t smart.”

True, but generally Harrison is very smart with a great instinct for the game and the way it should be played. And this is just the start.

“I mean, it was a great experience,” he said. “The whole week, almost two weeks, has been incredible for me. I’ve always believed I could come in here and compete at this level. But to go out and actually execute and win some of the matches I did — I’m extremely happy and proud of that.”

Others are proud of him, too, not least his American colleagues. Andy Roddick has always been there for him with advice, and today after he came off court, John Isner said, “He has a huge future in the game.”

OPEN BRAWL

 

• See what sparked the fight
• See the ensuing melee
• Plus, we have fight photos

 

Isner’s future is still looking good, and he did well to come through, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4, against the Swiss Marco Chiudinelli, despite poor preparation for the U.S. Open. “I hurt my ankle two weeks ago, and the first time I hit was two days before the tournament. So I lost some of my shape and, once again, my legs weren’t there.”

As they have to carry Isner’s 6-foot-9 frame, they need to be strong, but, hopefully, he will have gained some more match fitness from today’s win. He will need it in the third round when he meets the veteran Russian, Mikhail Youzhny, who put out the Israeli Dudi Sela in four sets.

The third match on Arthur Ashe was enlivened by a small knot of Jamaican supporters who were there to cheer for their man, Dustin Brown, when he took on No. 4 seed Andy Murray. With his flying dreadlocks and unorthodox game, Brown is going to become a character on the tour if he can continue to improve. Murray took about three games to work out which way his fast-action serve was going, but once he did, the Scot’s pinpoint returning turned it into a routine encounter that he won, 7-5, 6-3, 6-0.

MAKE ROOM

 

Does Djokovic give men's tennis a Big Three? Matt Cronin

 

Sam Querrey had a relatively easy, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 win over the Marcel Granollers and will now meet another Spaniard, No. 14 seed Nicolas Almagro, who beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez — yes, he’s Spanish, too.

But all that happened before the head honcho of that Spanish group went out on Arthur Ashe to entertain the night crowd. Hurricane Earl never materialized in these parts, but Rafael Nadal and his tall, blond opponent from Uzbekistan, Denis Istomin, did their best to kick up a storm in a duel that produced some totally breathtaking rallies.

Istomin, a finalist at New Haven last week, is now ranked 39 and should, on this display, go much higher. He took the attack to Nadal; Nadal responded with all his amazing court coverage and the pair hit screaming ground strokes all over the place as the crowd roared its approval. Nadal prevailed, of course, but the score of 6-2, 7-6 (5), 7-5 was a little tough on Istomin. He had pushed the No. 1 seed closer than that.