Granted an unexpected opportunity to hit with the pros, Andre Ilagan and Phuc Huynh relished their appearances in the Hawaii Open on Friday at Blaisdell Arena.
Ilagan, a two-time high school state champion at Farrington, held his own for much of his match before Christian Harrison finished off a 6-2, 6-3 win to advance to a meeting with ninth-ranked Kei Nishikori in today’s semifinal round at Blaisdell Arena.
“Coming out, I thought of it as no pressure,” said Ilagan, a University of Hawaii freshman, who was given a wild card into the men’s draw. “My goal in the beginning was to keep the balls in the middle deep so I could get in my rhythm, which was good.”
Harrison, who made his first appearance in Wimbledon’s main draw this summer, went up a break at 3-2 in the first set. He earned another in a battle that went to deuce six times before he finally put away the game to take control.
In the second set, Ilagan went down 3-0, rallied to 4-3 — buoyed by a supportive crowd — and had a break point to tie the set. But Harrison fought it off then held serve to close out a 79-minute victory.
“I felt if I had my first shot deep or enough to neutralize a ball, I had a chance to win the point,” Ilagan said. “I felt like I could dictate left and right, but I think my weakness was getting my feel coming into the ball and finishing.”
Ryan Harrison, Christian’s older brother, opened the tournament with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Huynh, an ‘Iolani graduate who was added to the men’s draw Thursday afternoon in place of Mackenzie McDonald. Ryan Harrison, ranked 62nd and a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team, will face No. 18 Milos Raonic in today’s first men’s semifinal.
“This is amazing,” Huynh said. “Who can say they got to play Ryan Harrison in front of their home crowd, in Blaisdell and on TV as well. It’s a surreal experience.”
In the women’s draw, Christina McHale rallied from a set down to advance to the semifinals with a 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 win over Monica Puig. McHale will face 12th-ranked Elise Mertens in today’s first match at 11 a.m.
In Friday’s final match, Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard held off CoCo Vandeweghe 6-0, 7-6 (2). Bouchard, ranked 87th, faces No. 18 Garbine Muguruza in today’s third match.
