The Louisiana native won his first ATP-level match in Atlanta last week as he defeated Alejandro Falla before falling to world No. 22 John Isner in three close sets.

This week, Harrison found himself in the qualifying draw of the Citi Open in Washington, DC and turned out a stellar performance in the opening round against Iliya Marchenko, before going down to former world No. 62 Somdev Devvarman.

Harrison’s biggest claim to fame is perhaps his surprise run at last year’s US Open where he reached the men’s doubles quarterfinal with his brother, en route taking out the No. 4 seeded team in the first round. The plan for the duo is to team up again at this year’s edition in New York City next month.

Slighter and quicker on court than his older brother, Christian covers the court like a top 100 player already, and shows glimpses of his developing tennis genius in other aspects of his game. With his father Pat serving as his coach at the IMG Academy in Florida, Christian is in good hands to soon vie for main draw spots at tournaments.

I sat down with the focused, thoughtful and friendly Harrison as he talked about his memorable career moments, his game and goals, and what skill he would like to learn after tennis.

What is your most memorable moment on court?


So far, the thing that is pretty cool was the US Open last year when (brother Ryan and I) made the quarterfinals (in doubles). And now, also last week, I picked up my first ATP win, that was pretty cool for me.

What is your greatest strength on court?


Probably my consistency and movement right now. But I’m trying to work on building a bigger weapon.

What is a weakness in your game that you’re working on?


I don’t really feel like I have a weakness that can get picked on. But one of the things that I’m trying to work on is putting away short balls, and trying to get comfortable attacking them.

If you weren’t a tennis player, what would you be doing?


(Laughs) I would probably be trying to play some other sport – probably football or something. I like to throw the ball around for warmup.

If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?


That’s a good question. I am having to think really hard right now. (Laughs) People say surfing is pretty cool, but I’ve always been somebody that’s scared of sharks. But if I could get over that fear, then it would probably be cool to learn to surf … Maybe after tennis when I can afford to give up a leg or an arm. (Laughs)

If you could have dinner with any three people, living or dead, who would they be?


I like Pete Sampras – I idolized him growing up. So that would probably be one because when I was younger I looked up to him a lot. The second, I would have to say – I gotta dig deep for another sports guy – Drew Brees. I like him a lot from the Saints. And the third one, maybe, like Jessica Alba. (Laughs)

What are your goals for the year in terms of progress or ranking?


At the beginning of the year, I wanted to get to top 150. But now, I’m really not trying to look at rankings because it kind of messes with you a little bit. So I’m just trying to look at each tournament and focus on winning matches and picking up points that week. I feel like if I’m doing everything right, then my game will get to where it needs to.