Harris, SA’s rising tennis star, marches on in Adelaide
Can the 22-year-old start lifting a bit of the burden on Kevin Anderson?
Lloyd Harris of South Africa looks on during his round 1 match against Cristian Garin of Chile during day two of the 2020 Adelaide International at Memorial Drive on January 13, 2020 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Sue McKay/Getty Images)
Rising South African tennis star Lloyd Harris has reached the quarter-finals of the ATP event in Adelaide, Australia.
The 22-year-old defeated Serbia’s world No 40 Laslo Djere 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in their second round clash on Wednesday.
Harris, who came through qualifying at the ATP 250 event, defeated Chile’s world No 36 Christian Garin 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-4 in the first round.
He will next face Spain’s world No 30 Pablo Carreno Busta on Thursday.
Carreno Busta dispatched big-hitting Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-2.
Harris entered the event ranked 99th in the ATP rankings, but improved to 91st when the rankings were updated on Monday.
The South African also performed admirably at the ATP Cup last week, losing a tight match 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 3-6 to Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic, beating Chile’s Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 6-4, before going down to French veteran Gilles Simon 6-2, 2-6, 2-6.
Harris made great strides last year by qualifying for the main draws of all four Grand Slam events.
He also won his first Grand Slam match at the French Open when he defeated Czech qualifier Lukas Rosol 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 in a five-set classic at Roland Garros.
He achieved a career-high ranking of 82nd in July.
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