Lloyd Harris knocks off another big gun in Dubai
Lloyd Harris continued his incredible form at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Thursday, outgunning former top five player Kei Nishikori in three sets.
The lanky South African had too much power for the world number 41 and sent down 14 aces in the match on his way to a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win.
Harris took just 24 minutes to claim the first set but the Japanese number one wouldn’t go down easy and made his break points pay on the way to a 6-3 win in the second set.
The 24-year-old from Cape Town settled himself in the third though and was able to take charge of the match and claim the third set 6-3.
Harris Hurrah
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 18, 2021@lloydharris63 continues his giant-killing form in the Middle East, defeating Nishikori 6-1 3-6 6-3 to reach his maiden ATP 500 semi-final at @DDFTennis! pic.twitter.com/bqCZ5gKXgm
He has already defeated world number five Dominic Thiem on his way to the last four.
Harris will now face world number 12 Denis Shapovalov of Canada in his first ATP Tour 500 semi-final on Friday 19 March.
Who is Lloyd Harris
Harris was born in Cape Town and took up the game of tennis at a young age.
“I picked up the racquet really, really young and all I wanted to do was just play with them as well,” Harris said. “My mum asked the coaches, ‘Is he not too young? Can he start?’ I was not even three years old. There I was hitting balls already. The thing is, I enjoyed every second of it. I never had played too much.”
He credits playing other sport with keeping him excited with the sport.
“That kept me excited for tennis and I kept on enjoying it. That was great,” Lloyd Harris said. “Back in South Africa, I was lucky enough to be in great schools and have all the facilities and stuff that I needed.”
He looks up to Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson, whose success made Harris realise a South African could be a force on the ATP Tour.
“At the time I was growing up, from a reasonable age when I was watching tennis, there was no one playing [from South Africa],” Harris said. “Kevin was the first one to come along again and it has been unbelievable to see his rise up the ranks.”
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