On the back of the best season of his career so far, South African Lloyd Harris is looking to further establish himself on the ATP tour in 2020, with an eye on making some deep runs in upcoming Grand Slams.
Harris started his year with three strong performances in the ATP Cup, flying the flag for South Africa alongside his countryman Kevin Anderson. On Saturday, the 22-year-old eased into the final round of qualifying at the Adelaide International with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over alternate Mikalai Haliak, who was a last-minute replacement for Alex Bolt, a main draw wildcard recipient.
“It was very good. Woke up this morning and it was kind of a change of opponent, so it’s not always easy, I didn’t know anything about him but I just took care of the business and I played well, served really well, so I’m happy with the performance,” said Harris, who tackles 39-year-old Frenchman Stephane Robert for a spot in the main draw on Sunday.
“I’m happy to get matches, so every match is a big benefit going into Australian Open. Just to get extra preparation, extra match-fit before then. It’s a lot of stuff we’ve been working on at the moment, after the offseason, so just keep improving those and ultimately next week is the most important for us.”
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Last year, Harris posted his best ATP result by making the semi-finals in Chengdu and picked up his first Grand Slam main draw victory by reaching the Roland Garros second round. He also took a set off of Roger Federer in their opener at Wimbledon.
At the ATP Cup last week, he defeated Nicolas Jarry of Chile, and fell in two close three-setters to Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic and France’s Gilles Simon. It was an encouraging display that bodes well for what’s to come.
“It was an exceptional tournament, I really enjoyed it, our team did great,” Harris said. “I had three really tough matches, got through one, and lost two tough three-setters but ultimately I was very happy with the way I played and I think it’s something I can just build off this week and take that into Australian Open.”
Following his promising 2019 campaign, he is now ready to make another leap forward.
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Harris added: “It was a good year for me, my first year really on the ATP tour, but now I feel like I’ve settled in, competing with these guys week in, week out, it’s nothing strange for me anymore. I’m looking to go deep in ATPs, get a title and start making some runs in Grand Slams too.”
Meanwhile, Jarry snapped a 12-match losing streak – dating back to last July – by defeating Australia’s John-Patrick Smith 6-3, 6-3 to set up a qualifying final round clash against American Tommy Paul.
The Chilean had not won a match since his title run in Bastad six months ago but the world No.77 put an end to that drought with a convincing 63-minute success in Adelaide.
He split with his long-time coach – and uncle – Martin Rodriguez last October, and joined forces with Dante Bottini (who was part of Kei Nishikori’s team for nine years) ahead of the start of the 2020 season.
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“I knew for sure I was getting closer. It’s been tough, tough weeks, with a lot of changes. I changed my coach for the first time of my life and I knew that change was going to make, sooner or later, some changes. I played good matches against good guys last week [in the ATP Cup] and now I have the first win, so I’m happy,” Jarry told adelaideinternational.com.au.
“I’m just happy training a lot, I’m very happy outside the court, I think that’s the most important part, I’m doing a lot of changes, so that makes a little bit of uncertainty and doubt but I know I’m on the right path so the changes need time and that’s what I need.”
Other qualifying winners on Saturday include Spain’s Jaume Munar, Argentina’s Federico Delbonis and Italian Salvatore Caruso.