Ryan Harrison knocks out Juan Ignacio Chela in the first round – Western & Southern Open 2011
American wild card entrant Ryan Harrison, ranked 78th in the world, upset world number 23 Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 in the opening round at the Southern and Western Open in Cincinnati,
Ohio on Monday. The match lasted for just an hour and eleven minutes.
Harrison and Chela broke each other on a number of occasions in the first set. Chela drew the first blood as he broke the American in the opening game but was unable to hold his serve in the next game, levelling the score at 1-1.
Harrison clinched four consecutive games after that, breaking the Argentinean in the fourth and sixth game to take the score to 5-1. Chela pulled one break back as he won Harrison’s serve in the seventh game, holding his serve in the next game to reduce the
deficit to 3-5. However, the Argentinean could not break Harrison’s serve at 3-5, losing the set 3-6.
Harrison delivered just 44 percent of the first serves but compensated by hitting a couple of aces and winning a whopping nine of the eleven first service points in the opening set. The American failed to save the two break points
he faced on his own serve but succeeded in converting all the three break points he received on Chela’s serve in the first set.
Just like the opening set, Chela was first to take lead as he broke the American in the second game to go ahead 2-0. However, once again he failed to consolidate on the break of serve to take the score to 2-1 and lost Harrison’s
serve in the next game to square off the score at 2-2. Harrison dominated the proceedings after that as he won four of the next five games, breaking the Argentinean in the seventh and ninth game to capture the set 6-3.
The American advanced to the last four at the Atlanta Tennis Championships and Farmers Classic to start the hard court season. However, he lost to compatriot Mardy Fish on both occasions.
Harrison said, after the match, “I think that I've been playing within myself, which is good. I'm not trying to hit spectacular, great looking shots on every point. It's just a matter of playing consistently high quality points
over and over and just knowing that after you do that, the outcome is usually going to go your way more often than not.”
The American will face world number 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the second round.
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