Lloyd Harris is serving up quite a storm
Capetonian scalps Thiem, Nishikori and Shapovalov in Dubai
● The barnstorming week Lloyd Harris has had has confirmed the status of the 24-yearold player as the future of SA tennis.
Harris has been like a hurricane at the Dubai Tennis Championships, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake as he stormed to the final where he met Russian Aslan Karatsev last night in the ATP 500 event.
It has been a dream week for Harris in Dubai who entered the event as the No 1 South African in the FedEx ATP rankings with the ranking of 81.
A victory over Karatsev would see the man from Cape Town go to position 45 and a defeat will take him to 54th.
Either way it would mark momentous progress for a big week of his life.
Harris set up the final showdown courtesy of a three-set victory — 6-7(5), 6-4, 76(6) — over Denis Shapovalov in a battle that lasted two hours and 41 minutes.
The win over the Canadian, ranked No 11 in the world, claimed a piece of history as Harris became the first qualifier to go all the way to the final.
It also sealed his seventh victory in seven days.
“I don’t have many words right now. I am super happy with that win,” Harris told the ATPTour.com during his on-court interview after the match.
“Being a set and 2-4 down is mentally and physically a little bit troublesome for me, but I found my best tennis from there.
“I am just extremely happy with the result right now. This is what I am working for. This is what I have been putting in the hard yards for,” said Harris.
“I have been waiting for some results like this. To have so many of them in one week is a fantastic feeling. I have got one more match to go.”
Began his journey
En route to the clash with Karatsev, Harris claimed the scalps of formidable opponents.
He began his Dubai journey with a 6-1, 6-2 breeze past Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili, a 35-year-old veteran, in the qualifiers last week.
Next to fall victim to hurricane Harris last Sunday was Blaz Rola of Slovenia, whom Harris defeated 6-2, 6-4.
On Monday, Harris rallied from a set down to send Christopher O’Connell of Australia packing.
Tournament top seed and world No 4 Dominic Thiem’s journey came to an end on Tuesday when Harris’s good form led to him triumphing 6-3, 6-4 over the Austrian, who is the US Open champion.
It was the turn of Filip Krajinovic to face the fury of Harris as the Serb was dispatched in two sets on Wednesday.
He continued to hold his own when he proceeded to eliminate Japanese superstar Kei Nishikori 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
One-way traffic
In his win over Nishikori, Harris, who is coached by Anthony Harris (no relation), used his efficient service to good effect.
In fact, the first set was one-way traffic with the South African moving like a welloiled machine and sealing it in sensational style 6-1 in 17 minutes.
He told the ATPTour.com that he is a Tottenham Hotspur fan.
“Only came really into football like three, four years ago,” he reportedly said while in Australia last year.
“Just some of my favourite players that when I started watching, I took a big liking to some of their players.
“Heung-min Son, Harry Kane are probably my favourites.
“Then I just started supporting them. Got the shirt, got everything that goes with it. And to be honest, I have been following them like every single match.
“Now I’m a diehard fan, for sure.”
Jose Mourinho would love for his Spurs to be in similar red-hot form like their tennisplaying fan.