Ryan Harrison (born May 7, 1992) is an American professional tennis player. Part of a new generation of American players, his game fits the pattern, technically and strategically, of previous Bollettieri professionals, relying on a powerful attacking forehand and explosive serve to dominate play from the baseline. Harrison's impressive rise up the ATP rankings has showcased both his natural athleticism and fiery temper. Pegged as the next big star of American tennis after his standout junior career, he has yet to break through in a Grand Slam event, losing to top players in key early round matches.

Tennis career
Juniors
As a junior Harrison compiled a 60–24 win/loss record in singles, reaching as high as No. 7 in the world (achieved in April 2008).
Junior Slam results:
Australian Open: SF (2008)
French Open: 3R (2008)
Wimbledon: 2R (2008)
US Open: 3R (2008)
Before he went to the junior circuit, Ryan trained at the John Newcombe Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels, TX. His first Junior Grand Slam was the 2007 US Open, where as a wildcard, at the age of 15, he lost in the first round to a qualifier. Going into the next Grand Slam, the 2008 Australian Open, he was seeded fourth, and would lose to Yang Tsung-hua in the semi-finals. Harrison failed to produce in the next three Grand Slams, losing in the third round of the 2008 French Open, the second round in 2008 Wimbledon, and the third round in the 2008 US Open, a competition in which his younger brother Christian also competed. Although at this point Harrison was only 16, and as such was eligible to play juniors for another two years, it would be his final Junior Grand slam.

Early career
Harrison is notable for being the third youngest player since 1990, after Richard Gasquet and Rafael Nadal, to have won an ATP level match, defeating world #130 Pablo Cuevas in the 2008 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships. Entering the tournament as a qualifier ranked #1000, he was only the tenth player in the history of the ATP Tour to have won a match before turning 16.[1] This puts Harrison among an elite group, which also includes Frenchman Richard Gasquet, and former world No. 1, Rafael Nadal, and makes him the youngest American to accomplish this feat since Michael Chang. Harrison played mainly futures tournaments in order to increase his ranking. Harrison competed in the qualifying tournament for the 2008 Cincinnati Masters, and the 2008 US Open, but lost in the first round in both. Harrison would finish 2008 ranked 742 in singles.

2009
Harrison didn't compete in any tournaments until late April in 2009. As a Wildcard, he made it to the quarter-finals of a Challenger tournament in Sarasota. In June, Harrison would win his first futures title, defeating another rising star Filip Krajinović in the final. Having not defended the points from the Clay Court Championships, these points took Harrison's ranking to 706. Harrison would again try his luck in both the Cincinnati and US Open qualifying, and once again lost in the first round in both. After this, Harrison went to two consecutive Futures finals, losing the first to Michael McClune, and winning the second against Richard Bloomfield. This would put Harrison's ranking at 371 in the world. Directly after that final, Harrison made it to the semi-finals of a Challenger tournament in Sacramento, losing to Jesse Levine. Harrison would finish the year ranked 364.

2010
Harrison played in a playoff against other Americans to decide who would receive America's wildcard into the 2010 Australian Open. Harrison defeated Alex Kuznetsov and Donald Young in two sets, before defeating Jesse Levine in three straight sets. Once in the draw, Harrison lost in the first round to Janko Tipsarević in straight sets. At this point Harrison began competing in some bigger tournaments. First he received a wildcard into the 2010 SAP Open, where he lost to eventual semifinalist Denis Istomin in the first round. Next Harrison went through qualifying to face John Isner in the first round of the 2010 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships. Harrison lost in straight sets to the eventual finalist. Afterwards Harrison went through qualifying in the 2010 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, before losing to eventual champion Ernests Gulbis in the first round. Harrison received a wildcard for the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, where he defeated Taylor Dent in the first round, before losing to the eventual winner Ivan Ljubičić. Having lost early, Harrison competed in the 2010 Sunrise Challenger where he lost first round, and then after receiving another wildcard into the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open lost in the first round to Michaël Llodra. Harrison played in a few challengers afterwards without any major results. On May 19, now ranked 263 in the world, Harrison entered the qualifying tournament for the 2010 French Open, after having lost in the final of the US Wildcard Playoff to Ryan Sweeting. Harrison lost in the final round of qualifying to Stefano Galvani. Harrison competed in the prestigious Queen's Championship with the likes of Murray, Djokovic, and Nadal, but would lose in the first round to Jesse Levine. Next Harrison would compete in Wimbledon Qualifying, but would lose in the first round to up and coming Lithuanian star Ričardas Berankis. Having not gained any points on his favourite surface, Harrison decided to compete in the 2010 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. He defeated sixth seed Karol Beck 6–1, 6–2 before defeating seventeen-year-old Denis Kudla 7–5, 7–6. He then lost to Richard Bloomfield of Great Britain by a score of 5–7, 7–6, 7–5. Immediately after the tournament (as of July 12, 2010), he rose in the South African Airways ATP Rankings to a (young) career-high of #220.

Harrison qualified for the US Open and defeated the 15th seed Ivan Ljubičić in the first round for his first win in a Grand Slam tournament. In the second round, Harrison fell to Sergey Stakhovsky in a grueling 5-setter 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, 3–6, 6–7 after failing to convert 3 match points when up 6–3 in the fifth set tiebreak.
He opted to stay in the U.S. instead of heading to Asia and trying to qualify into main tour events. He had a relatively successful fall on the Challenger tour, making the final in Tiburon, the quarterfinals in Calabasas, the second round in Charlottesville, and the second round in Bratislava where he defeated ATP #93 Dustin Brown 4–6, 7–6, 6–3.

2011
Harrison lost to Adrian Mannarino in straight sets in the first round of the 2011 Australian Open.
Harrison won the 2011 Honolulu Challenger beating Alex Kuznetsov in the finals. He won the doubles title as well. He ousted 22nd-seeded Guillermo García-López in the second round of the 2011 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California, as a wild card. In the third round, he defeated Canadian up-and-comer Milos Raonic in a tight three-setter to set up a fourth-round confrontation with World No. 3 Roger Federer, which Harrison lost with the final score of 6–7, 3–6.

At the 2011 French Open, Robin Söderling (seeded fifth) beat Harrison, but the young American was able to take a set off the two-time French Open finalist with the a final score of 6–1, 6–7, 6–3, 7–5. His next tournament was Queen's in London where he was given a wild card. However, he lost in the first round to Michael Berrer in three close sets, 6–7, 6–2, 5–7. He then competed in the qualifying competition for Wimbledon, in which he reached the final round but lost in five sets to Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 3–6, 5–7, 6–1, 6–4, 5–7. He, however, received a spot in the main Wimbledon draw as a Lucky Loser. He beat Ivan Dodig 7–6, 6–0, 7–5 in the first round. He faced seventh seed David Ferrer in the second round losing in a five setter match 7–6, 1–6, 6–4, 3–6, 2–6 that lasted two days.
Together with partner Matthew Ebden, he won the doubles tournament at the 2011 Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in July. Harrison made his first ATP semifinals in Atlanta where he lost to eventual champion Mardy Fish. This performance shot him into the top 100 for the first time, at no. 94. He followed this by another semifinals appearance in Los Angeles just the week after where Fish once again stopped him by 6–0, 4–6, 7–6. As a result, his ranking jumped to world no. 82. His next tournament was Washington, D.C. where he lost to Viktor Troicki in the second round. He was also granted a wildcard to participate in Cincinnati Masters. He lost to Novak Djokovic (number one in the world) in the second round. By year's end, he had scored wins over Victor Hanescu and Viktor Troicki, and he had risen to 79 in the world rankings.

2012
During the Australian summer, Harrison lost in the first and second round of Brisbane and Auckland, respectively. At the Australian Open, he lost in the first round to world no. 4 Andy Murray, after taking the first set.
In February, Harrison made his third appearance in the semifinals in San Jose, where he lost to eventual winner Milos Raonic, 6–7, 2–6.

In April, Harrison lost his inaugural Davis Cup matches to France's Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon. Despite Harrison's two losses, the U.S. still advanced to the semifinals, where the team faced Spain in September 2012 and lost.

Harrison played for the Philadelphia Freedoms of World Team Tennis in the summer as their 2012 wild-card player. It was his first season playing for WTT. Harrison played with the Freedoms in their home matches on July 11 and 14 at The Pavilion at Villanova University, and traveled with the team to face the New York Sportimes on July 13.
Harrison lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the second round of the 2012 Wimbledon Championships.[2]
Harrison participated in singles at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He lost in the first round to Santiago Giraldo of Colombia. An article in The New York Times made more note of his behavior than his tennis, reporting: "Though the match was considered winnable for Harrison, the loss itself will be less remembered than Harrison’s petulant behavior as the match slipped away."[3]

2013
Harrison started off the year strong with a victory over John Isner at the Apia International Sydney.
He is currently signed with IMG Academy. In addition, Andy Roddick is helping Ryan Harrison with his game.

Personal life
Harrison began playing tennis aged 2, and was coached by his father, Pat Harrison, who had a brief career as a professional, playing predominantly Challenger and Futures events. Harrison is an alumnus of IMG Academy and is currently coached by Grant Doyle.
Harrison has a younger brother, Christian, who currently plays tennis on the ITF juniors circuit. Christian joined Ryan to play doubles together at the 2012 US Open, where they reached the quarterfinals.