SA stars Harris and Anderson fall early at Australian Open

South Africa’s best hope, Lloyd Harris, crashed out in the first round of the singles competition at the Australian Open on Monday, while veteran compatriot Kevin Anderson joined him on the sidelines on a disappointing opening day for the SA contingent at Melbourne Park.

Harris, the No 30 seed, won the first set against Australian wild card entry Aleksandar Vukic and looked ready for another solid start to the year’s first Grand Slam after reaching the third round last season.

Buoyed by the crowd, however, Vukic hit back hard with a stunning effort, taking the next three sets to secure a 4-6 6-3 7-5 7-6 victory.

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The 25-year-old Australian progressed beyond the first round of a top-flight tournament for the first time in his career, while Harris failed to reach the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time in two seasons.

Meanwhile, former world No 5 Anderson fell in a straight-sets defeat to No 23 seed Reilly Opelka of the United States, who earned a 6-3 6-4 7-6 victory.

Having overcome multiple injury battles in recent years, Anderson continued in his struggle to regain his best form, with the two-time Grand Slam finalist failing to progress beyond the opening round at Melbourne Park for the second year in a row.

While his hopes in the more prestigious singles competition were over, Harris’ campaign remained alive, with the SA No 1 preparing to turn out in the doubles competition this week with Australian player Alexei Papyrin.

Harris and Papyrin will face two-time Grand Slam champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia in the opening round.

Doubles specialist Raven Klaasen will also compete alongside Japanese partner Ben McLachlan, with the duo entering the tournament as the No 13 seeds.

They will fancy their chances after winning two ATP Tour titles over the last couple of years, and reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals last season, and Klaasen will hope to return to the main court next week as he targets a repeat performance after reaching the final of the Australian Open with former partner Eric Butorac back in 2014.

Klaasen and McLachlan will meet Dutch player Matwe Middelkoop and Austria’s Philipp Oswald in the first round, as they look to showcase their form on the biggest of stages.