Wimbledon runner-up Raonic stunned by US qualifier at Open

NEW YORK - Milos Raonic’s face was red, his body was the very picture of weariness. His left wrist was bothering him. So was his left thigh.

A Wimbledon finalist just last month, and seeded No. 5 at the U.S. Open, Raonic doublefaulted 15 times and was stunned in the second round at Flushing Meadows 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday by Ryan Harrison, a qualifier from the United States ranked only 120th.

For Harrison, a 24year-old born in Louisiana and now based in Texas once seen as possibly the “next big thing” in American men’s tennis, this is his first trip to the third round at a Grand Slam tournament. He had been 0-6 in second-round matches.

Until Monday, Harrison hadn’t even won a single main-draw match at any major since the 2013 French Open.

Last week, Harrison and his younger sibling Christian, 22, became the first pair of brothers to both qualify for the U.S. Open.

“I’m excited to keep moving forward,” Harrison said during an oncourt interview at the tournament’s new Grandstand stadium, telling the partisan crowd: “Anything’s possible when I have your support.”

The fans pulled for their guy loudly with all sorts of chants, including, “Here we go, Ryan! Here we go!”

And while he was certainly helped by his opponent’s myriad problems — Raonic received repeated visits from a trainer, who worked first on the Canadian’s wrist, then massaged his leg — Harrison played cleanly after recovering from a doublefault that ceded the opening set.

He wound up with 33 unforced errors, making merely one in the final set of the 3½-hour match. Raonic’s total was 62, including a whopping 21 in the third set alone.

After Harrison hit a cross-court forehand passing winner to break for a 5-1 lead in the fourth set, Raonic looked exhausted as can be, resting both arms on his knees behind the baseline and leaning on his racket for extra support.