A U.S. Open field short on top-ranked homegrown men's players may have birthed a new American underdog story.
Ryan Harrison, not yet 25 and two years removed from his last top 100 ranking, has the makings of such a story after a spirited 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 upset of Milos Raonic, the No. 5 seed, in Wednesday's second round at Flushing Meadows.
Raonic was heavily favored but struggled physically in the New York heat, fighting through cramping in both his arms. At one point during the second set, he required medical treatment for the cramps, which had visibly affected him all match. Raonic blamed it on "nerves and stress" and said he was his own worst enemy, but Harrison also rose to the occasion against the Wimbledon runner-up and will advance to the third round for the first time in 20 attempts during major tournaments.
“Life is great,” Harrison said. “This will be a U.S. Open to remember on so many different occasions. The first one being engaged. The first one me and my brother both competed in. How cool is it to have him with me at the Open? We’re both playing in the main draw.”
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Indeed, the 24-year-old from Louisiana has everything going right for him at the right time. He's engaged to Lauren McHale, the older sister of American player Christina McHale. His brother Christian also qualified for the main U.S. Open draw, but lost in the first round.
Ryan Harrison, a former teen standout, has never been ranked higher than 43rd, which he reached in 2012. He was at No. 120 entering the Open and his victory over Raonic was his second ever over a top 10 player. He'll meet 44th-ranked Marcos Baghdatis in the next round.
DJOKOVIC TAKES A WALK IN NEW YORK
Harrison's heroics captivated the home crowd and diverted some attention from Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Both advanced to the third round with relative ease, albeit for different reasons. Nadal cruised for a sixth straight win over Andreas Seppi 6-0, 7-5, 6-1 in just 2 hours, 17 minutes. Djokovic, the world's top-ranked player, needs no favors to go far in the slams, but he will be more than happy to take the gift of a walkover from Jiri Vesely, who retired due to inflammation in his left arm.
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The Serbian was scratchy and is battling injuries — to his wrist and arm — of his own, so he will undoubtedly be grateful for the rest.
Among the other top seeds to advance, Marin Cilic, the 2014 champion, disposed of Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, while Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and John Isner were also barely troubled.
UNCHARTERED WATERS FOR EDMUND, ACE ISNER PROGRESSES
Andy Murray is the undoubtedly king of British tennis, but Kyle Edmund is seen as a future top 10 player. He showed his promise by beating Richard Gasquet in Round 1, and he followed up that impressive victory by defeating American wild card Ernesto Escobedo 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 to book a spot in the third round of a grand slam for the first time.
There was better news for a more established American talent, though, as Isner came through 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (10-12), 6-3 against Steve Darcis.
Isner was typically big-serving in his victory, firing 38 aces and 70 winners.
MURRAY, WAWRINKA RESUME
World No. 2 Murray is expected to have few problems against Marcel Granollers. Stan Wawrinka takes on Italy's Alessandro Giannessi, while Kei Nishikori, Juan Martin del Potro and Nick Kyrgios eye the third round on Thursday.
Omnisport's Dejan Kalinic and Peter Hanson contributed to this report.
