Ryan Harrison advances to quarterfinals at Farmers Classic

He has ground stokes that look a lot like Andre Agassi’s and a temper that explodes like John McEnroe’s.

Let the comparisons begin — Ryan Harrison doesn’t mind.

“To be in a position where people are even mentioning my name with Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras is a privilege,” Harrison said. “I haven’t accomplished near anything they did in their careers. I’ve still got a long ways to go. But I do believe in myself.”

As well he should.

The 19-year-old from Louisiana with a fiery temper has a game so good, he has pundits salivating after a dry spell in American tennis. At the moment, the up-and-coming Harrison is enjoying what might be the best month of his young career.

He kept rolling Wednesday in the Farmers Classic at the UCLA Tennis Center, cruising to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Michael Russell that puts him in the quarterfinals of a tour event for the second consecutive week. The run comes during his first few days in the ATP top 100, and one week after he made his first singles semifinal in Atlanta.

Harrison was broken only once in Wednesday’s match, and if it were up to him, it wouldn’t have happened.

At 15-30 in the second game of the second set, a linesman called Harrison’s second serve out for a double fault. In his best McEnroe voice, Harrison exclaimed, “Come on! That’s a terrible call! The ball’s not out if it’s on the line!”

Then after Russell converted the break, Harrison walked over to another linesman, squatted, and then squinted at the court from that vantage point. When he stood up, he commented to no one in particular, “That’s so embarrassing that you can miss a call when you’re right there.”

But don’t tell Harrison he has a temper.

“If you mean energy, then I’ve got a lot of energy,” he said. “That’s the way I like to think of it.”

Harrison’s demeanor mostly won him supporters Wednesday, but one man urged the chair umpire to warn the teenager after he launched his racket toward the net after losing a point. Harrison, however, is more concerned with procuring supporters such as James Blake, who, for a year or two, was also tagged as the next big thing in American tennis.

“He’s a guy that’s going to reach his potential, that’s for sure,” Blake said of Harrison on Tuesday night. “He’s a guy that wants to learn. He wants to do things the right way, and he wants to put in the hard work. … Sometimes young kids want to cut corners … but he wants to go through the process.”

In other matches, Ernests Gulbis defeated former UCLA standout Daniel Kosakowski, 6-2, 6-4, and Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan upset third-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, 6-3, 6-4.

matthew.stevens@latimes.com

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