Ryan Harrison
USABiography of Ryan Harrison
Early Life and CareerRyan Harrison, an American professional tennis player, was born on May 7, 1992, in Shreveport, Louisiana. He started playing tennis at the age of two, with his father, Pat Harrison, as his coach. Ryan's father was also a professional tennis player who mostly competed in Challenger and Futures tournaments. Ryan graduated from Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida and trained under Martin Damm before working with Scott McCain since May 2011. He has a younger brother, Christian Harrison, who is currently competing in ITF junior tournaments, and a younger sister named Madison.
Junior Career
As a junior player, Ryan achieved his best ranking of 7th in the world in April 2008. He participated in his first junior Grand Slam tournament, the US Open, in 2007 but was eliminated in the first round. In the same year, he reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, the third round of the French Open, the second round of Wimbledon, and the third round of the US Open, where his brother Christian also competed. Despite being only 16 at the time and having two more years of eligibility as a junior player, this was Ryan's last junior Grand Slam competition.
Professional Career
Ryan turned professional in 2007 at the age of 15 and has since competed in all four Grand Slam tournaments. His highest career singles ranking was 670th, achieved on August 22, 2011. In doubles, Harrison broke into the top 100 players in the world (as of July 11, 2011). He has earned a total of $388,558 in prize money throughout his career. Harrison predominantly enjoys playing on grass courts.
Notable Achievements
One of Harrison's notable achievements was becoming the third youngest tennis player since 1990, after Richard Gasquet and Rafael Nadal, to win an ATP-level match. He achieved this by defeating the 130th-ranked Pablo Cuevas at the 2008 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships. Harrison primarily competed in Futures tournaments to improve his ranking and finished the year by jumping from 1000th to 742nd in singles. In 2010, he started participating in major tournaments and reached the first round of the Australian Open and the second round of the US Open. His successful performances at the 2010 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships earned him a ranking of 220th in the world. In 2011, Ryan reached the first round of the Australian Open, the French Open, and the second round of Wimbledon.
