15 year old wins at Men’s Clay Court Championships
Posted on Apr 15, 2008 under Blogroll |A fifteen year old Texan stole the limelight at the Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston yesterday as he became only the 10th player in open history to win a main draw event before his 16th birthday.
Ryan Harrison was matched up against Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay in the first round of the Men’s Clay Court Championships and caused a stir by taking the match in straight sets, defeating Cuevas 6-4, 6-3. The last player to accomplish this feat was Rafael Nadal, who won a main draw event as a 15 year old back in 2002.
Harrison had originally been scheduled to attend a Futures tournament in Little Rock this week, but had convinced his father that he was capable of taking on the world’s best in Houston.
Going out there I was nervous,” said Harrison. “First ATP match, playing a South American on red clay — I knew it would be tough. I was prepared to be out there for a while. But I was determined not to start pressing.”
Harrison’s opponent, the 22 year old Pablo Cuevas is ranked 95th in the world, almost 1000 positions higher than Harrison. Harrison reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open boy’s tournament earlier this year.
