South Africa’s leading tennis star Lloyd Harris earned the biggest win of his career in the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships, an ATP 500 event in Dubai on Tuesday evening.
The 24-year-old qualifier shocked top-seed and world No. 4 Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-3, 6-4 on Centre Court in the match which lasted an hour and 13 minutes.
Harris dropped only one point behind his first serve (29/30) and struck 23 winners to eliminate the US Open champion for a spot in the round of 16.
This is Harris’ first win against a Top 5 player. The 24-year-old claimed his first Top 20 win at last week’s Qatar Open (ATP 250 event) against Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland.
“I’m super, super happy with that win. [He is] by far the highest-ranked player I have beaten,” Harris told the ATP Tour.
“I look up to Domi a lot so, for me, it is a special feeling. I am really happy. Just the fact that I am playing good tennis, match in, match out now is giving me a lot of confidence.”
Harris was happy to engage in backhand-to-backhand rallies early in the first set. The Capetonian proved the more consistent player on the stroke to earn the first break points of the match at 2-1 and he converted his second chance with a cross-court backhand winner.
Throughout the match, Harris held serve without being forced to deuce. The World No. 81 earned the only break of the second set at 3-3, when he rushed Thiem with deep backhand returns and capitalised on two double faults. Harris closed the match with a powerful first serve into Thiem’s backhand.
“I was serving really well. I don’t think I faced any break points,” said Harris. “I took control of those games and [in] one or two games on his serve, I gave myself a good look. I played some of the important points very well. I am very proud of that.”
Harris will meet Serbian 14th seed Filip Krajinovic for a quarter-final spot.
Meanwhile, Rafa Nadal will skip the Miami Open that begins later this month in a bid to recover from a back injury in time for the clay court swing, the Spaniard said.
Nadal had not played since his quarter-final exit at the Australian Open last month and also skipped the ATP 500 event in Dubai.
The 34-year-old has since dropped down one place in the rankings to third after Russian Daniil Medvedev leapfrogged him.
"Sad to announce that I won't be playing in Miami, a city that I love. I need to fully recover and get ready for the clay court season in Europe," Nadal wrote on Twitter.
The Miami Open is a hard court tournament which Nadal has never won despite reaching the final five times between 2005 and 2017.
The Spaniard could possibly be targeting the Monte Carlo Masters in April and the Madrid Open in May as he looks to get into top shape for the French Open where he has won a record 13 times.
- Reuters
SA's Lloyd Harris stuns Dominic Thiem in Dubai
Image: Francois Nel/Getty Images
South Africa’s leading tennis star Lloyd Harris earned the biggest win of his career in the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships, an ATP 500 event in Dubai on Tuesday evening.
The 24-year-old qualifier shocked top-seed and world No. 4 Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-3, 6-4 on Centre Court in the match which lasted an hour and 13 minutes.
Harris dropped only one point behind his first serve (29/30) and struck 23 winners to eliminate the US Open champion for a spot in the round of 16.
This is Harris’ first win against a Top 5 player. The 24-year-old claimed his first Top 20 win at last week’s Qatar Open (ATP 250 event) against Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland.
“I’m super, super happy with that win. [He is] by far the highest-ranked player I have beaten,” Harris told the ATP Tour.
“I look up to Domi a lot so, for me, it is a special feeling. I am really happy. Just the fact that I am playing good tennis, match in, match out now is giving me a lot of confidence.”
Harris was happy to engage in backhand-to-backhand rallies early in the first set. The Capetonian proved the more consistent player on the stroke to earn the first break points of the match at 2-1 and he converted his second chance with a cross-court backhand winner.
Throughout the match, Harris held serve without being forced to deuce. The World No. 81 earned the only break of the second set at 3-3, when he rushed Thiem with deep backhand returns and capitalised on two double faults. Harris closed the match with a powerful first serve into Thiem’s backhand.
“I was serving really well. I don’t think I faced any break points,” said Harris. “I took control of those games and [in] one or two games on his serve, I gave myself a good look. I played some of the important points very well. I am very proud of that.”
Harris will meet Serbian 14th seed Filip Krajinovic for a quarter-final spot.
Meanwhile, Rafa Nadal will skip the Miami Open that begins later this month in a bid to recover from a back injury in time for the clay court swing, the Spaniard said.
Nadal had not played since his quarter-final exit at the Australian Open last month and also skipped the ATP 500 event in Dubai.
The 34-year-old has since dropped down one place in the rankings to third after Russian Daniil Medvedev leapfrogged him.
"Sad to announce that I won't be playing in Miami, a city that I love. I need to fully recover and get ready for the clay court season in Europe," Nadal wrote on Twitter.
The Miami Open is a hard court tournament which Nadal has never won despite reaching the final five times between 2005 and 2017.
The Spaniard could possibly be targeting the Monte Carlo Masters in April and the Madrid Open in May as he looks to get into top shape for the French Open where he has won a record 13 times.
- Reuters
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