TURKEY AND TENNIS FOR CHRISTMAS
Marooned in the Med, Britain’s Billy Harris made the most of it
Christmas DaY and turkey naturally go together, but for British tennis player Billy harris, they proved an unusual combination this year.
While those at home were scoffing their dinner, the GB hopeful was playing a match in turkey, en route to reaching his first professional final in a tournament that ploughed on through the festive period.
harris, 25, has found himself marooned in the mediterranean resort of antalya, playing the lowest tier of the Pro tour and unable to return home due to Covid restrictions.
he used the time well, winning his quarter-final of the Futures event on Christmas Day and eventually making the final, which he lost to Ukrainian Georgii Kravchenko. he won £995.
Watching on a live stream back in the isle of man were his parents and three siblings, who he had originally planned to join after spending nearly two months on the road.
instead, he ate Christmas dinner at his largely deserted hotel with a Japanese player who speaks little English and the Belarus Olympic kayaking team.
harris, No 788 in the world, is used to living in straitened circumstances. he spent two years travelling to tournaments around Europe in a Ford transit van.
‘ it was certainly a different Christmas,’ says harris, who is still in turkey, waiting for another tournament to begin next week. ‘i celebrated by adding a schnitzel to my spaghetti bolognese.’
he has been anxious to maximise playing opportunities, having had his solid if unspectacular career progress interrupted last year by a hip injury, sustained when he fell off a running machine at an event in thailand.
‘i’ve been away since the end of October playing tournaments in Greece and turkey and i was keen to get home. But with the extra travel restrictions coming in, ire ali se di may struggle to get back out again, as there are very few tournaments on anywhere right now.
‘it’s already very strict getting back to the isle of man as you have to isolate on your own for two weeks, so i thought it was better to stick it out as they are putting on more events here from next week.
‘ it has been a different Christmas but maybe it helped my tennis. i had to focus to make the best of it.’
harris is one of Pro tennis’s many unknown soldiers who, even in normal times, exist far removed from the chauffeur-driven luxuries of atP tour level. he survives on paltry prize money, support from his sponsors, plus his side gig of preparing rackets for other players on a mobile stringing machine. ‘ You’ve got to do what you can to give yourself a chance,’ says the 6ft 3in manxman, who — unusually for a Brit — favours playing on clay courts.
‘i took the van round Europe so i could play on the clay and it’s a cheap way of doing it. i could sleep in the back of it and park up either at the tennis club or the local mcDonald’s — they are the best because you can normally stay overnight. it sounds fun but occasionally it’s scary because there are some strange characters around.’
harris is hoping to find a few more kindred spirits in the new year. antalya is one of several resorts—Egypt’s sharm El-sheikh is another — who stage lower-league ranking events as a way of attracting customers out of season.
‘it’s very quiet here this week. Other players have gone home and there are just a few elderly russian tourists about, one or two of them come to watch the matches,’ adds harris.
‘i’m going to play some more tournaments until February as my goal is to get my ranking to 500. after that, i will try to go back for some UK events if they are on. i will definitely be ready for home by then.’