Harrison Brothers Qualify For US Open Main Draw
Harrison Brothers Qualify For US Open Main Draw
#NextGen stars Khachanov, Donaldson also prevail Friday
Day 4 of US Open Qualifying on Friday saw American brothers Christian Harrison and Ryan Harrison take very different paths into the US Open main draw, while #NextGen players Karen Khachanov of Russia and Jared Donaldson of the U.S. also moved into the final Grand Slam of the year.
Christian rallied from a set down on Court 17 to defeat Steven Diez and qualify for his first Grand Slam main draw, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. The 22 year old, currently ranked No. 688 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, saved two match points in his first-round win over Luke Saville. Christian had never won a round in Grand Slam singles qualifying prior to this week.
More: Sweet Success For Harrison In New York
Older brother Ryan made it through qualifying in far less dramatic fashion, not dropping a set and scoring a convincing final-round qualifying win over Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-2. The 24 year old is making his seventh consecutive appearance in the US Open main draw.
No. 14 seed Donaldson didn’t face a break point in his final-round qualifying match against Santiago Giraldo, needing just 61 minutes to advance into his third US Open main draw, 6-2, 6-2.
“I’m really happy to be in my third US Open. At least for the Americans, this is the biggest event of the year. Hopefully I can have a lot of success in the main draw,” said Donaldson. “It’s a grind to get through qualifying because everyone wants to make it into the main draw of a Grand Slam. It’s not easy and I had never done it before until today, so it’s a great accomplishment for me.”
Khachanov weathered a mid-match surge from fellow #NextGen star Noah Rubin and a crowd that was very much behind the New York native. The Russian was unable to serve out the match at 5-3 in the third set, but broke Rubin in the next game to qualify for his first Grand Slam main draw, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Tecnifibre player Marton Fucsovics of Hungary qualified for his first Grand Slam main draw by defeating Lorenzo Giustino of Italy, 7-6(2), 6-1. The 24 year old has seen his Emirates ATP Ranking improve by nearly 60 spots this season.
Several other players also prevailed on Friday to qualify for their first Grand Slam main draw: No. 26 seed Saketh Myneni of India, Guilherme Clezar of Brazil, Jan Satral of the Czech Republic and Ilya Ivashka of Belarus.