Miami, FL – Rising American Ryan Harrison was a come-from- round winner Thursday at the Sony Ericsson Open.
The 19-year-old wild card fought back to beat Italian Potito Starace 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-4 on the hardcourts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park. Harrison swatted 11 aces and was not broken in the 2-hour, 22-minute affair.
Harrison is rewarded with a second-round match against last week's Indian Wells champion Roger Federer. The great Federer is tied with Rafael Nadal with a record 19 career Masters titles, including two here in Miami.
Russian Igor Kunitsyn edged out American wild card Jesse Levine 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-3) on Day 2.
Also advancing Thursday was Spaniard Albert Ramos.
The top seeds for this 12-day event are world No. 1 star Novak Djokovic, former top-ranked greats Nadal and Federer, and 2009 Miami winner Andy Murray. The two-time Sony Ericsson champion Djokovic beat Nadal in last year's marquee finale here.
The winner of this lucrative $3.973 million tournament will claim $659,775.
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