INDIAN WELLS, CALIF.—This is a big event for 19-year-old American Ryan Harrison. It’s a Masters tournment in his own country and on his best surface. Along with the next Masters, in Miami, it’s also the last time he’ll have either of those things going for him until August.
Harrison, currently ranked No. 72, seems to be treating it with the proper gravitas—to be taking advantage of the chance instead of letting it take advantage of him. In his second-round match tonight, Harrison, who appears to have put on muscle this year, came out firing against 25th-ranked Viktor Troicki. His big hook and big kick serves were working, and he backed the veteran Serb up in rallies with his forehand, which he did a good job of setting up and using at every opportunity. Harrison rolled out to a 5-2 first set lead.
That’s when Troicki began his counterattack. At 3-5, he played a game of brilliant defense to break. On one point, he made a perfect stab lob; on the next, he pulled a seemingly impossible running backhand pass onto the sideline. But Harrison steadied himself, held for 6-6, and found his way back onto the offensive in the tiebreaker. Again, though, he struggled to close. Troicki came back from 3-6 to 5-6 before Harrison ended it by forcing his way forward and winning the set with an overhead.
It appeared that the second set would be all Harrison, as a disappointed Troicki lost heart and Harrison used his serve and forehand to rip his way to a 4-0 lead. One more time, though, the Serb made him earn it, getting the score back to 3-5 before Harrison broke him on his third match point to end it.
This is obviously a solid win for Harrison, and a necessary win for his progress, the kind he’ll have to put together each week if he wants to keep rising. He overhit at times, at others he was caught out of position and put on his heels by Troicki’s returns, and he was nervy and overzealous with the lead. But you got the feeling that Harrison did the right thing by continuing to go after his forehand even when he missed it, and that his game has begun to take on a high-level heft. He’ll need it be as hefty as possible next time out, when he’ll likely play Andy Murray. Another big match, in a big week, for Ryan Harrison.
—Steve Tignor