Lloyd Harris bows out in first round in Melbourne
South Africa’s top Davis Cup tennis player was eliminated in the first round at the Australian Open, after qualifying for only his second main draw at a Grand Slam tournament.
South Africa’s number one Davis Cup tennis player, Lloyd Harris, lost in straight sets to Russian Daniil Medvedev in the opening round of the men’s singles at the Australian Open, at Melbourne Park, Australia, on Tuesday.
The Russian 15th seed surrendered only four games against Harris to advance 6-1 6-2 6-1.
The 21-year-old Harris, ranked 119th on the ATP Tour rankings, was playing in his second main draw of a Grand Slam, having also played in last year’s US Open, where he lost in the first round to Gilles Simon from France.
It was far more straightforward for Medvedev, who took only an hour and 47 minutes to beat Harris after breaking the South African qualifier’s serve seven times and hitting 27 winners.
The young Davis Cup star hit 22 winners but made 39 unforced errors compared to the 13 of Medvedev.
Harris made his way through three qualifying rounds to make it into the main draw of the opening Grand Slam of the year and said he has learnt a lot from his second appearance in a major.
“Today was very difficult for me, Daniil won a couple of crucial points early in the first set and that kind of set the tone for the match. He played well and I was unable to produce my best tennis. I learnt a lot from this match and it only motivates me to work harder to get stronger and better for the future,” said Harris
Kevin Anderson and Raven Klaasen are the other South Africans in the main draw of the Australian Open.
Anderson, seeded 5th, won his first-round match on Monday when he beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in four sets. Anderson next face America’s Frances Tiafoe in the second round on Tuesday.
In the doubles event, South Africa’s Raven Klaasen and his New Zealand partner Michael Venus will begin their campaign against America’s Bradley Klahn and Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin.
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