Harrison Goes Down

Well, Ryan Harrison, the new budding American tennis star, ended up losing his second round match at Wimbledon today to 7th seed, David Ferrer, after the match was suspended yesterday due to darkeness. He took Ferrer to five sets, losing the fifth at 2-5.

But it's okay, Harrison has all the skills to be the next great American tennis star. It's all there. He has the big serve of Pete Sampras, the pigeon-toed gait and two-handed backhand of Andre Agassi, the beautiful groundstrokes of Roger Federer, and even the temper of John McEnroe. In fact, it was probably his inability to control his emotions that lost his match today. But again, it's okay, he's only 19, and he'll learn quickly. What most impresses us most about Harrison is his versatility of shots; in addition to using a two-handed backhand, he also occasionally uses a one-handed backhand slice which is very effective. It's rare to see a "two-hander" also have the ability to use one hand when needed. Harrison's impressive Wimbledon debut follows an also impressive performance at last month's French Open, so all eyes will be on Harrison at the upcoming U.S. Open later this summer to see if he continues to improve.

On a sadder American tennis note, perennial loser Andy Roddick is currently behind, two sets to none, in his third round match against Feliciano Lopez. It looks like another early round exit for the once former #1 player in the world. Rupert Grint, pictured at left, of "Harry Potter" fame was spotted yesterday at Centre Court. Maybe Grint can wave a magic wand and give Andy Roddick a few desperately needed, free points. He needs them.

Can Harrison Do It?

We've been begging for a long, long time for another great American tennis player, and it looks like our long, national tennis nightmare might finally be over. Ryan Harrison, the 19 year-old Shreveport native is already living up to his potential as American's next great tennis star.

We hinted a couple of days ago that Harrison might upset #7 seed David Ferrer today at Wimbledon, and so far, so good. He was leading two sets to one over Ferrer when the match was suspended for darkness. If he can come back tomorrow and finish off Ferrer, then he's got a chance to go far into the tournament. Laughingly, Andy Roddick commented about Harrison that he'd have to learn to control his emotions if he wants to become really great. Oh, right, this advice coming from a man, (Roddick), who because he never matured emotionally turned out to be one of the great American tennis under-achievers of all time. Maybe Roddick should just concentrate on getting past the third round of the tournament.

And speaking of whiners, Serena Williams was complaining today that she's had to play her past few matches on Court #2, instead of Court #1 or Centre Court. It is odd that the defending champion is not playing every match on Centre Court, but let's get real. Wimbledon is, at the end of the day, a business, and just a like t.v. programmers, the organizers of the tournament are going to schedule for the famed Centre Court the players with the most appeal. And frankly, most people are bored with Serena Williams' clunky, clydesdale horse-version of tennis. Williams is a great champion, no doubt, but her game is big and ugly and boring.

The Future of American Tennis?

One more item of note from this year's French Open. Pittsburgh native Bjorn Fratangelo won the Junior Boys Division of the Grand Slam, becoming the first American man to do so since John McEnroe won it in 1977. His win, coupled with a quickly maturing fellow American on the tour, Ryan Harrison, might just signal the next great wave of American tennis players. Let's hope.

Oh, and in case, you were wondering, yes, Bjorn Fratangelo was named for the tennis great Bjorn Borg, whom the young Fratangelo's father reportedly idolized.

Nearly the Greatest Upset of All Time

Yesterday at The French Open we very nearly witnessed the greatest upset in the history of tennis. Rafael Nadal has played in The French Open six times, winning it five times. If he wins this year, he'll equal Bjorn Borg's record of six French Open championships. To say that he's the greatest clay court tennis player of all time is probably undeniable at this point. Yesterday, he played his first round match against unseeded American John Isner, who became famous at last year's Wimbledon for playing the longest match in tennis history. No problem for Nadal, right? Not so fast.


Isner played what might have been the match of his life, at one point leading Nadal two sets to one. Nadal was in trouble. The match went the distance, Nadal narrowly winning the fifth set at 6-4. If five-time champion Nadal had lost in the first round of Roland Garros, the loss would have been historic and jaw-droppingly shocking. If you ask us, Nadal's shaky play shows that he is clearly rattled by his two recent losses on clay to a storming Novak Djokovic.




On a better note for American tennis, we said last year, (click here), that Shreveport, Louisiana native, Ryan Harrison, might be the future of tennis for a struggling American program. Harrison attempted to get into this year's French Open by winning his way through the qualifying tournament, but he lost. But then when Benjamin Becker from the withdrew from the tournament with an injury, Harrison got his spot. Unfortunately for Harrison, he had to play Sweden's Robin Soderling, who was in the finals of the two most recent French Open's, where he defeated Nadal one year and Federer the next. No one expected Harrison to win, but he did take the second set from Soderling before he lost the match, and he showed remarkable composure and confidence.



Unless something goes wrong in the future, it looks like 19 year-old Ryan Harrison does indeed have all the skills to become the next great American champion. But although Harrison's tennis career is on the rise, we would probably advise Harrison to learn some other languages if he wants to have any friends on the world tennis circuit, because it doesn't look like he's going to have the company of any other American men.

How Did Snookie's Family Score Tickets to The U.S. Open?

We just wrote about the woes of U.S. men's tennis and the stunning underachievements of Andy Roddick and James Blake, when suddenly, out of the blue, emerged what looks like might be the bright future of American men's tennis.
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(ryan harrison)

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Ryan Harrison, an 18 year-old Shreveport, Louisiana native made it to the second round of the U.S. Open yesterday, and had he converted one of three match points, he would still be in the tourney. He lost to Stergiy Stakhovsky in five sets. But the good news, after watching his play, is that he has all the goods to become the next great American champion. Even several veteran champions, Connors, Navratilova and McEnroe all commented that Harrison has a bright future ahead of him.
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But maybe the most enjoyable match at this year's U.S. Open took place in the stands a couple of days ago during one of Novak Djokavic's matches. Watch the video below, this is hilarious.