Ryan Harrison upsets Olivier Rochus in the opening round – SAP Open 2012
Local star, Ryan Harrison, surprised everyone after upsetting the eighth seed, Olivier Rochus, in a mouth-watering three set clash at the SAP Open 2012 on Wednesday. He bounced back to register a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 success over the Belgian veteran to reach the
second round at this hard court tournament taking place in San Jose, United States.
Just 19-year-old, Harrison displayed top class performance to stun the world number 50 in their first meeting. After two hours and six-minute epic, the American smashed 27 superb aces to please the crowd and bag the match. As a result, the youngster not
only took lead in the FedEx ATP Head2Head series by 1-0 against Rochus but also secured a round of 16 spot.
The 31-year-old displayed exceptional defensive skills in the opening set. He plucked in entire serves after dusting away nine breakpoints he came across. Rochus then converted one out of three break opportunities to his advantage and pocketed the opener
with a 6-4 score line. The Belgian produced a poor first serve share but marked acceptable 17 out of 29 points on it.
Harrison sought the right path in the following set as he defended the only breakpoint he faced to keep his entire serve. The American youngster then cashed in half of the four break chances and ultimately pulled out the equaliser by winning six games to
two. He manipulated a better first serve share of 79 percent as compared to the Belgian’s 67 percent and impressively clinched 18 out of 26 points on it.
The teenager remained focused in the final set. He failed to block the only breakpoint he encountered but capitalised on both break opportunities to seal the decider with a 6-3 win. Harrison tremendously availed 16 out of 23 points on his lower first serve
share and smacked nine aces to prevail.
Next up for the booming star is his fellow citizen, Robby Ginepri, who also upset a Belgian contender, Xavier Malisse, to occupy this spot. The wild card kept his entire serves after warding off all breakpoints he faced and capitalised on five out of seven
break chances to seal the match with a 6-1, 6-2 victory in under an hour.
Fifth seed, Julien Benneteau, got lucky in the opening set. He outshined the American challenger, Ryan Sweeting, in the tie-breakers of two sets to advance into the second round. The French exchanged a serve break in both sets and dominated in the tie-breakers,
subsequently registering a 7-6(3), 7-6(5) score line in their second meeting.
Tags: