American Ryan Harrison Outlasts Ivan Ljubicic, Heat at US Open

NEW YORK -- In perhaps the biggest surprise in day three at the U.S. Open, 18-year-old Ryan Harrison defeated No. 15 seed Ivan Ljubicic in a first-round match on Wednesday. Harrison, an American who needed three victories in last week's qualifying tournament to advance to the main draw, beat the 31-year-old Ljubicic 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4.

Over three days of temperatures in the mid-90s, Ljubicic was the first player to cite the heat as his reason for losing. Asked after the match to detail his biggest problem against Harrison, the native of Croatia said, "The weather was my biggest enemy today. Throughout my career I struggled with the heat. I'm not really coping well with that, and I tried all kinds of different tactics to deal with it. I never find the right one. I was not returning well, not serving well, and Ryan was on top of his game.

"I sweat a lot and I felt really bad. I mean, I can't move. It gets to me really quickly actually. Already in the first set I was struggling with it."

Ljubicic did not hold back, even joking that instead of a heat rule for players, he would be in favor of an all-indoor tour. Then he got serious again.

"(Fans) are coming to see good tennis," he said. "Days like this, it's all about everything except tennis. It's just trying to hang in there and hit some balls more on the court than the other guy or the other girl.

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"A break doesn't really help. At the Australian, they have a pretty good rule. When it's too hot, you just don't play. Some tournaments have it, some don't. That's it. Life goes on."

The U.S. Open will continue for Harrison, who signed with management company IMG and is one of the big hopefuls for American tennis. He was just 3-8 on the tour this year, but possesses a big serve and strong all-around game. This is his second Grand Slam event, after losing in the first round of the Australian Open in January.

"This is the biggest win of my career, winning on this stage and taking out a top-20 player," said Harrison. Asked if he was comfortable with being one of the young players counted on to carry the mantle of American tennis, Harrison said, "I absolutely want to be that guy."

Having recently trained in 120-degree temperatures in Boca Raton, Harrison had no complaints about the New York heat.

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