Ryan Harrison seems to love playing in Acapulco. The twenty-three year-old American was a semi-finalist at the event in 2015 qualifying for that event and then defeating Grigor Dimitrov and Ivo Karlovic. Harrison has got his 2016 effort off to a great start, once again qualifying, before defeating former US Open Champion and third seed Marin Cilic 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Harrison worked hard against a sluggish Cilic, who had displayed particularly indifferent form prior to this tournament in 2016. Harrison managed to win eight points from ten against the Cilic second serve, resulting in two breaks. The Croatian replied with one of his own, but Harrison held strong to win the first set. Cilic pulled back in the second, taking the solitary break of the set and facing none against his own serve. Cilic therefore looked the favourite entering the final set. Harrison though, seemed to take heart from serving in front, and returned to dominating the Cilic second serve, something that had disappeared in the second set. Harrison was once again rewarded with two service breaks, and this time held both as he sealed the win with a flourish in the final games.
Not be outdone by his countryman, Taylor Fritz continued his stride towards the Top 100. His points earned from qualifying and his 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over Jeremy Chardy means that he will now join the Top 100 for the first time. How high he rises will be determined by how far he goes in this tournament, and having eliminated a seed early, his reward is a match-up against a player far more at home on clay than on hard-courts, Victor Estrella Burgos.
There was also good news for a Briton, as Aljaz Bedene won the first set 6-4 against Ivo Karlovic before the Croatian retired injured at two-one in the second. Bedene will now have a real chance of making the quarter-finals when he faces Robin Haase in the second round.
Veteran Russian Dmitry Tursunov ensured that Sam Groth’s rotten form continued, defeating the Australian 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Groth hit twenty-four aces, but was hamstrung by twelve double-faults. Groth has just a single win on the year, his first round victory at the Australian Open against Adrian Mannarino.
