Ryan Harrison's recent meteoric rise has earned him a wildcard into the Houston event this week and he opens against Argentina's Horacio Zeballos tonight.
The American players traditionally struggle on clay and it will be interesting to see if Harrison can break that mould. The teenager has risen to every other challenge he's faced so far but these next two months will be a crucial learning experience for him. He played Houston last year, losing in the first qualifying round and this is a tough match against the experienced Zeballos who thrives on this surface.
Harrison comes into the tournament with plenty of confidence after an impressive showing at Indian Wells and he's rapidly getting closer to the world's top 100.
Zeballos has competed almost exclusively on clay this year, reaching the latter stages of several challengers in South America. He scored a win over David Nalbandian in Santiago a couple of months ago and his experience may be too much for Harrison at this stage.
Prediction: Zeballos in three
