Tasmanian victory pushes Harris to No 100

LLOYD Harris joined South African singles ace Kevin Anderson in the top-100 of the ATP World rankings for the first time yesterday.

The Capetonian won his third career ATP World Challenger tournament title in Tasmania on Sunday which launched him in the world top-100.

Harris claimed a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 victory over Lorenzo Giustino of Italy to claim the Launceston International, rocketing him 11 spots up the rankings to 100th.

“It definitely helps to get one step closer to where I want to be, ultimately being a top-100 player consistently,” Harris said.

“I would love to break into the top-50, that is my next goal, and that is something I will be working hard towards over the next year.”

He reached a career-high 110th ATP world ranking in 2018 after winning two Challenger Series titles.

The 21-year-old qualified for his first Grand Slam at the 2018 US Open where former world number six Gilles Simon of France knocked him out in the first round.

Harris came into the new year with the main objective of reaching the world top-100 with the hopes of earning regular places in ATP World Tour tournaments.

He made a good strong start to the 2019 season qualifying for his second Grand Slam main draw at the Australian Open last month.

Harris found the going tough in his opening match losing to Russian Daniil Medvedev in straight sets with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 defeat.

But Harris hardly made a misstep in Tasmania, and didn’t drop a set.

“I was consistent throughout the week, I kept my focus well, I was holding serve pretty comfortably and I was just competing for every point out there.”

He said he made a few adjustments to his game in the pre-season which he believed started to show on the court.

“I put in a lot of physical work, focusing on fitness and trying to get some better agility,”

“I’ve been trying to get those service percentages higher, I’m coming forward more, being a bit more aggressive in my game.”

Harris will be taking a short break before travelling to the US to continue his pursuit of climbing the world rankings.