PETE ZIEBRON
Twenty-nine months ago I watched Lloyd Harris lose in the first round on the brand new ATP Phoenix Challenger at the Phoenix Country Club. The South African was ranked 92nd and went out 6-3 4-6 4-6 to American Ryan Harrison, ranked 104th. The match did not stand out in any manner, as several other players were in Phoenix, namely: David Goffin, Ernests Gulbis, Jeremy Chardy, Casper Ruud, Dan Evans and eventual Champion Matteo Berrettini.
Yesterday, Harris stunned Rafael Nadal in the 3rd round of the Washington 500 to improve to 17-14 in 2021 and 49-47 in his career. The 50th ranked Harris has recorded wins this year over: Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem, Denis Shapovalov, Kei Nishikori, Grigor Dimitrov and Gael Monfils. However, he also lost to: #423 Adrian Andreev and #192 Mackenzie McDonald.
Lloyd Harris in the Lexington Challenger, 2017 (photo by Karl Corbett)
Harris has a 7-11 career record at majors, reaching the 3rd round of this year's Australian Open, as well as a 2-4 mark at Masters 1000 events.
Entering Washington, Harris lost 4 of his last 5 matches, with the lone win coming in the 1st round at Wimbledon. This week in Washington, the South African received a first round bye as he is the tournament's 14th seed. In his opening match, Tennys Sandgren retired in the second set and Harris advanced with a 604 1-0 RET result to then meet Nadal in the 3rd round.
Next up is Nishikori, whom he defeated in the quarterfinals this year in Dubai 6-1 3-6 6-3. Harris eventually reached the final, losing to Aslan Karatsev. Denis Kudla or Mackenzie McDonald will await the winner in the Washington semifinals.
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