INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—Fresh off a first-round win at Indian Wells—and an engagement to Lauren McHale, the sister of WTA No. 62 Christina McHale—Ryan Harrison talks about finding his form, getting inspiration from the younger Americans, and why he decided to pop the question.
You come in off a pretty tough season with injuries and your ranking dropping. Do you feel this is the start of a turnaround?
[The 2015] season, the beginning wasn't bad at all. I picked up 300, 400 points in the first four months of the year, it had me top 30 in the YTD standings. Then you tear two ankle ligaments and you're out for two months. And not only are you out for two months, you lose momentum...
Then once I was healthy, I lost two matches 7-6 in the third in the summer series, and picked up no points there. And it starts to look like a tough stretch. I didn't feel like my level was that far off, just had some tough losses and some tough luck. But that happens, people don't really care what happened with your ranking or why it dropped. It's on you to stay humble, keep working, and stay motivated. And I feel like if I keep putting myself in positions to win, I will execute whenever I have chances.
You had a good week in Acapulco and seem to be playing pretty well here. [Harrison qualified for the main draw before defeating Dusan Lajovic in the first round.] Do you feel you're starting to pick up some momentum again?
Yeah, every match hasn't been perfect but I've won some tough matches. I've fought through some nerves and some shaky points at times and I've gotten wins. I had a productive week in Acapulco; I lost 7-6 in the third [to Ilya Marchenko, in the round of 16] in a match I definitely could have won to make it an even better week, but just as you have the ups you also have the tough moments. Maybe the younger me would have let that shake me a little more rather than coming here and qualifying and winning a round against a good player.
Qualifying is tough—to get through and win matches that you feel you should win, it's not always easy. Can build confidence that way. I think I've done a good job of putting myself in a position that I can relax and play some tennis that I'm capable of.