Harrison ends his ordeal in Delray Beach after undergoing surgery eight times

Christian Harrison begins to see the light at the end of a long tunnel. A nine-year tunnel, specifically. The one that started in 2009 with his first operation on his left femur. The American, brother of fellow tennis player Ryan Harrison, began a journey through the operating rooms there that ended in ordeal.

In the following nine years, he would have surgery on the hip twice, on the shoulder, the wrist, the adductor, and, again, the femur. A dismal start to his career after a hopeful debut on the ITF circuit at the age of 13 in 2008. But Harrison did not throw in the towel and his luck began to change late last year, when he managed to break into the top 200 in the world for the first time. .

And with the turn of the year, Louisiana is getting bigger. In Delray Beach, not far from his home, he already has four victories in a row and has reached the quarterfinals after knocking down an ATP number 22 like the Chilean Christian Garín (7-6 (3) and 6-2). Another Chilean, Barrios, his compatriot Khang and the Argentine Etcheverry were his previous victims.

Now the American, who at 26 still has a career ahead of him, is going to try to break another ceiling by getting to the semifinals. The stumbling block will be an Italian, the 101st in the world Gianluca Mager, who has just landed his brother Ryan and later Sam Querrey.