During an ESPN conference call this afternoon, tennis legend John McEnroe was asked about the future of 19-year-old American Ryan Harrison.

“Ryan Harrison to me has always been a guy that you know he’s going to be a Top 10, top 15 player, but can he get to that top elite game?” said McEnroe. “That remains to be seen for me. But I like him for what he’s bringing to the table now, and he loves to be out there competing and he’s learning. He’s going to get up there. It’s just how much is he going to develop his own sort of personality and game would be my question.”

On the future prospects of American tennis in general, John added, “Ryan’s starting to get a little mojo. We’re starting to certainly like this ten and under thing, even though it sounds like it’s nothing, I think that’s going to be a big thing when little kids get to play on these smaller courts. I think it’s going to make the game much more accessible for kids to want to do it. So I think down the road we’ll get back on a roll, I just don’t know exactly when. I don’t see necessarily where we can put our hand on one guy right now or girl. Serena’s going to add some oomph because she seems to be getting back and making it in some majors. So we need to take advantage of this time and throw everything at what we’re trying to do which is get Americans to win majors again.”

John and brother Patrick will be part of the TV commentary crew for ESPN2 at the US Open which begins on August 29.

Harrison plays tonight in Cincinnati against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

Filed under: US Open
Tags: John McEnroe, Ryan Harrison