Harrison, 15, makes history

Fifteen-year-old Ryan Harrison beat Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 6-4, 6-3 in the US Clay Court Championship...

Fifteen-year-old Ryan Harrison beat Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 6-4, 6-3 in the US Clay Court Championship on Monday to become the 10th player in the Open Era to win a main-draw match before his 16th birthday.

Harrison is also the youngest player to get a main-draw win on the ATP tour since Rafael Nadal, the current No. 2 in the world, won his first tour match in Mallorca in 2002, and the third player this decade to do it before his 16th birthday. Richard Gasquet of France was 15 when he won his first match in Monte Carlo in 2002. Harrison, who will turn 16 on May 7, won 17 of 18 points during one stretch of the first set.

He closed out the set on his first opportunity by breaking Cuevas8217; serve at 15. In the second set, he faced only one break point. Next up could be top-seeded James Blake, who plays wild card Kei Nishikori of Japan.

He entered the match on Monday ranked No. 1,277 in men8217;s world rankings and was expected to improve that to about No. 704. No. 6 Dudi Sela of Israel took out Robby Ginepri of the United States 7-6 5, 6-2 and No. 8 Oscar Hernandez of Spain avenged a January loss to Juan Pablo Brzezicki in Chile by overcoming him 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Federer rallies

In Oeiras, Portugal, Roger Federer rallied from a set down to beat Olivier Rochus of Belgium 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 Tuesday in the first round of the clay-court Estoril Open. The top-ranked Swiss player had eight aces in the first set, but made too many errors. Second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko also made a shaky start against Jurgen Melzer but recovered to win 6-3, 6-1.

In the women8217;s event, top-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy dropped the opening set against Yvonne Meusburger of Austria before recovering to win 4-6, 6-0, 6-2. Second-seeded Maria Kirilenko also struggled before beating Stefanie Vogele of Switzerland 6-4, 6-7 2, 6-1.

Safin knocks Ferrero out

In Valencia, Spain, Marat Safin advanced to the second round of the Valencia Open by beating 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 Tuesday. The Russian wildcard, coming off a victorious Davis Cup weekend, broke the 19th-ranked Spaniard in each set while saving four break points to advance out of the first round for only the second time in six events this season.

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Top-seeded David Ferrer of Spain also advanced, beating Ivan Navarro 6-3, 6-4. The fifth-ranked Ferrer will play Pablo Andujar in the second round. The Spaniard defeated Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 6-4, 6-1.