| By Chris Oddo |
Photo Credit: Natasha Peterson/Corleve |
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(March 8, 2012) – One of the youngest players in the draw at the BNP Paribas Open played like a well traveled veteran tonight. Ryan Harrison, who reached the fourth round at Indian Wells at the age of eighteen last year, calmly dispatched 28-year-old Italian journeyman Flavio Cipolla, losing only five points on his serve in two convincing sets.
It was a strong statement for the 19-year-old American, and while Cipolla is by no means a household name, he is a player who has scored victories over Ivan Ljubicic and Nikolay Davydenko already in 2012.
But the 5’8” Italian was no match for the hard-serving American in the desert tonight. Harrison raced to a 3-0 lead and never looked back, winning ten of the matches first eleven games, and serving out the 6-1, 6-2 cakewalk in just 58 minutes.
Harrison hit five aces and lost only two first-serve points. He also converted on four of six break point opportunities and won 67 percent of the points played versus Cipolla.
“Solid match tonight,” tweeted Harrison after the match. “Got the W!”
Harrison will face a much stiffer challenge when he takes on No. 25-seeded Viktor Troicki on Saturday in the second round.
It was a busy day for American men on the grounds of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, with mixed results. Wildcard Sam Querrey scored a straight-sets win over fellow American Tim Smyczek, 7-6(1), 6-4. Querrey will face No. 12-seeded Nicolas Almagro in the second round.
Another winner of note was American Robby Ginepri, who defeated qualifier Paolo Lorenzi for his first victory at Indian Wells since 2008. The former world No. 15 saw his ranking drop to 411 after suffering a broken elbow in a freak mountain biking accident. After a 9-month hiatus, he’s climbed back to No. 211 and will face Stan Wawrinka in the second round.
Ginepri was a quarterfinalist at Indian Wells in 2003.
Americans who didn’t make it through were wildcard Jack Sock, who took the first set over Columbian Santiago Giraldo but faltered and eventually lost 5-7, 6-0, 6-1, qualifier Rhyne Williams and qualifier Jesse Levine.