Harris rebounds to level matters for Team SA in Davis Cup

AFTER South Africa suffered defeat in the opening rubber, Lloyd Harris staged a gallant fightback to defeat Denmark’s No 2 Benjamin Hannestad 7-6 (4) 6-0 7-5 in their Group II Euro/Africa third-round showdown at the Ceres Park & Arena, Aarhus, Denmark, last night.

Harris, the SA No 1, came out all guns blazing at the start to streak ahead 2- 0 but Hannestad hung in tenaciously to reclaim a break later on. As the set wore on, they matched each other blow for blow before a tiebreak separated the two.

Hannestad started out strong enough to secure two mini-breaks, but Harris stepped up a gear and blew him away 7-4 to clinch the first set.

It was one-way traffic in the next set as Harris pep- pered Hannestad with a steady stream of winners on either side of the court and that allowed him to move along to a commanding 7-6 (4) 6-0 lead.

Hannestad was able to fight back and fought hard to save the match in the third set, until he buckled under pressure in the 12th game when he dropped serve to hand Harris the win.

Apart from Harris’ booming serve which produced four aces, Hannestad had difficulty with return of serve. As a result, Harris bagged a 69 percent first serve points haul and that provided the platform for the victory which lifted the spirits in the KIA SA camp considerably at the end of the day.

Earlier yesterday Nik Scholtz, lost 6-4 6-2 6-3 to Frederik Nielsen.

The only doubles rubber will be played today, starting at 1pm (SA time). – ANA