Harrison Wins On Marathon Monday In Houston

Written by: Staff on 8th April 2014

Harrison Wins On Marathon Monday In Houston

epa03760774 Dustin Brown of Germany on his way to defeating Australia's Lleyton Hewitt in their second round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 26 June 2013. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

By Ricky Dimon

The players who reached the final round of qualifying at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship had already been required to work overtime. A little more extra tennis on Monday couldn’t hurt, could it?

It certainly did not hurt Ryan Harrison, who was among a group of eight men who won multiple matches on Saturday before rain completely washed out play on Sunday. Harrison appeared to be headed for a quick exit on Monday against Ruben Bemelmans when he trailed 6-1, 5-2 with a spot in the main draw at stake. However, the 115th-ranked American recovered from the brink of defeat and saved a whopping six match points in the second set before ultimately prevailing 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) in two hours and 17 minutes.

A main-draw showdown between Alejandro Gonzalez and Marcos Baghdatis did not quite reach the two-hour mark, but it did feature one incredibly long game. After leveling the match at one set apiece, Gonzalez was trying to maintain his momentum while serving the sixth game of the decisive third frame of play. The Colombian struggled for 18 minutes to do so, but he finally managed to hold en route to a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory in one hour and 59 minutes. Because of that one game, Gonzalez played 37 service points in the final set compared to Baghdatis’ 26 even though the Cypriot served four games to Gonzalez’s three.

A much quicker first-round affair took place between Dustin Brown and Rhyne Williams. The dreadlocked German needed just 49 minutes to score a 6-1, 6-2 rout of Williams, an American wild card who had reached the Houston semifinals in 2013.

Brown took to Twitter after his impressive win and even referenced a successful between-the-legs shot that he pulled off against Williams: “What A Day… Happy Wid A Match Like 2day… #GreatDayAtTheOffice… & Another Tweener & This Time @ A Tour Event…”

Next up for Brown is defending champion John Isner, who earned a first-round bye as the No. 1 seed.

Topics: Alejandro Gonzalez, Dustin Brown, Houston, John Isner, Marcos Baghdatis, Rhyne Williams, Ricky Dimon, Ryan Harrison, Sports, Tennis, US Men's Clay Court Championship

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10sBalls_com says:

April 8, 2014 at 7:36 am

Harrison Wins On Marathon Monday In Houston – http://t.co/lwHV2bLbaO @ryanharrison92 #tennis #claycourt #houston