OPINION: South Africa needs Lloyd Harris to shine in Davis Cup

The national men’s tennis team are one step away from returning to World Group I, but while they seem confident of climbing the ladder in the Davis Cup competition, it’s hard to see how they’re going to do it unless they have a full-strength squad.

Last week, the SA team defeated Nigeria 3-1 in Pretoria, avoiding potential relegation to Group III and retaining their place in Group II.

However, Nigeria are 19 places below South Africa in the Davis Cup rankings, and even without their best player, the SA side were the firm favourites going into the tie.

But if they want to take another step forward in the international team competition, South Africa will need Lloyd Harris to be available again.

First-choice players missing

It’s been a long-running problem for the national squad, who were without two-time Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson through most of his career.

Anderson had his own reasons for making himself unavailable, which most of the local tennis community seemed to accept, and he was generally given a free pass because he performed so well for South Africa on the ATP circuit.

Unlike Anderson, Harris (who hasn’t yet reached the same heights as his retired compatriot) has made himself available for most of his career, but his persistent injury troubles have repeatedly left him sidelined.

Most recently, Harris underwent back surgery, and he won’t be able to return to the national side until he has fully recovered.

Unfortunately for the national squad, until Harris is able to play at his best again, they are going to struggle to climb any higher up the Davis Cup ladder.

Quality and depth

Beating Nigeria is one thing, but to get to World Group I, we need more quality in the squad.

The likes of Philip Henning and Kris van Wyk have proved they have the ability to provide the depth required to beat higher-ranked teams, but without a top-ranked player, they are going to struggle.

Unless one of the members of the squad is able to lift his game over the next season, they are going to need Harris back, leading from the front.

For now, we can only hope he recovers soon.