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BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL PRESENTED BY SUNCORP

January 7, 2018

Ryan Harrison

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

N. KYRGIOS/R. Harrison

6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You had a lot of break chances early in that match. What do you think shifted from there on his serves that made it tougher to get into?
RYAN HARRISON: Shifted after the break chances?

Q. I mean, just how difficult -- because you started off getting a lot of looks on his serve, and then not many the rest of the match.
RYAN HARRISON: I don't understand the question.

Q. Did something change in how he was serving?
RYAN HARRISON: After the break point chances?

Q. Yeah. Did he clean up his serve after that or something?
RYAN HARRISON: Oh, okay. I think that later in the match I, you know, didn't get as good of a read on it as I did early. Even sometimes when a guy is serving that big you kind of start leaning, and he started getting an idea of which sides I was leaning to and going the other way.

I thought that he hit his spots really well, especially on big points. And, you know, sometimes it goes like that. I mean, you got a guy who serves that well, you're not going to get looks on every service game. My chances happened to be early in the match, and then he converted his chances.

Q. That level of play, where do you see him going, I guess, this year? What's his level at?
RYAN HARRISON: His level is very high. I think that we all know how well he can play. He brought a very high level today.

And playing out here in Australia, he's obviously very motivated and very comfortable. You know, he's going to be a danger to beat anybody that he plays whenever he plays like that. I think that it's nothing new, though, for him. He knows that and he knows he has the level.

So for us, you know, we're just both excited to be in the final the first week of the year. It's a good lead-up to the Australian Open for us to both be playing a high level of tennis. And I hope that in the future, you know, we can play on bigger and better stages. Not better but bigger stages.

Q. Do you think he played a bit more smarter than he may have in previous encounters or what you have seen of him in the last few years?
RYAN HARRISON: Against me?

Q. Just generally even in the tournament in general just the way he sort of built into his matches.
RYAN HARRISON: I'm kind of getting questions like I'm his coach right now.

Q. Sorry about that.
RYAN HARRISON: I was kind of focused on what I was doing.

Q. You're going to Auckland still as planned?
RYAN HARRISON: No. No, I'm probably going to pull from Auckland. So we've got to go through the necessary avenues. Because I played a lot of physical matches this week. I just played four days in a row, and, you know, a lot of three-set matches this week.

And obviously, I would have to fly all day tomorrow, three-hour time change. Already have a strong amount of fatigue after playing a lot of the matches in a row. So I will probably not be going to Auckland.

Q. So how do you feel going into Melbourne, then?
RYAN HARRISON: Feeling good. I mean, my level is high. I think the first set was a very high level of tennis. Could have gone either way. You know, Nick was playing some of his best tennis. I was playing a high level.

Sometimes at the highest level of professional tennis it happens like that where you have five break-point opportunities, you face one, and that's the set. You know, but I think that as long as I'm bringing that sort of level out there, if going to give myself a chance to do the things I want to do.

In previous encounters with top players, I kind of felt like a punching bag out there where they were just dictating the sort of play that they wanted to implement.

And I thought that today, even though the score line was similar to what other encounters had been with him, that the level was higher, that I had the game that was there to win the first set especially. The second set, not so much. But, you know, it was the sort of tennis I want to be trying to play.

Q. I noticed on the live rankings website that your ranking will go from 47 to 44. I know this is a 250, but it doesn't seem much an increase for making a final.
RYAN HARRISON: Sometimes there's gaps, you know. That's the way it works. When I was 40 in the world, I had, like, 1,000 points on my record, and now I have 1,100 and I'm 44. It just happens like that sometimes.

So I think that all you can really focus on is just, you know, picking up as many good, quality matches as you can. Because then there will be a time where later in the year I'll be whatever I'm ranked and you jump five spots with nothing, but guys fall off. So you're, like, I mean, Well, I didn't do anything this week but went up.

So it happens like that sometimes and all you can focus on at the end of the day is just the best tennis as I can play every time that I can.

Q. Bit of a not really a tonight question but they're changing seeds from 32 to 16, and you're coming up on getting to 32, which I know is often a goal for guys to reach that threshold. What do you think of that switch that's supposed to be happening?
RYAN HARRISON: Yeah. I mean, I have never been in the conversation for being seeded before. So it didn't have necessarily a big effect on me other than the fact that I thought that, you know, the more spread out you can have good players, because the draw is so deep these days, the better.

Because, you know, now you have the potential of getting, like, you know, a 17 ranked guy -- I don't know. Well, is Murray 17 right.

Q. He will be next week.
RYAN HARRISON: Imagine that he comes back 17 in the world and he's going to play Roger first round. You're like. Okay, really?

So, you know, when you have situations like that, it can be kind of tricky. I don't know if they're going to have exceptions with the board where they start to find a way, in those situations, to seed those sort of guys. I haven't been involved in any of those discussions.

Again, you know, if I get to top 20, top 30 in the world, I'll just keep focusing on what I can control, and hopefully -- the draws are the draws, you know. You want them to go in your favor.

Q. But is it a good or necessary change, do you think, going 32 to 16?
RYAN HARRISON: You're trying to get me, like, a quote here, aren't you?

Q. I want your opinion basically, if you feel one way or the other.
RYAN HARRISON: One way or the other, gun to my head, I think that the more seeding the better. Yeah.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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