Route to glory

Anderson takes the high road to Open

The South African pair of Kevin Anderson and Lloyd Harris are taking different routes to the Australian Open in Melbourne.

World No 6 Anderson will go into the main draw of the season’s first major on the back of winning his sixth ATP title last weekend.

Anderson won the Tata Pune Open in India‚ beating massive-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic in a final predictably dominated by aces to start his year where he left off in 2018.

Anderson moved into the top 10 on the world rankings in 2018‚ made the Wimbledon final‚ won two tournaments‚ a record 45 matches, as well as making the semifinals of the season’s finale at London’s ATP World Championships.

Life is good for the 32-yearold Johannesburger.

Harris‚ by contrast‚ is being put through the wringer in the brutal Australian Open qualifying at Melbourne Park. The Capetonian, 21, survives on a shoestring budget, playing the bulk of his tennis on the secondary-level Challenger Tour.

He needs to win three matches at qualifying to make it into the main draw of the Australian Open‚ and even then‚ a first round exit is likely‚ as he would draw one of the top seeds as a qualifier.

In 2018‚ Harris came through qualifying to make the main draw of the US Open‚ but lost in the first round against experienced French campaigner Gilles Simone.

But for Harris and others like him‚ just making the main draw of a major‚ the first-round prize money of $35,500 (R494,133) will keep him going on tour for most of the year.

Harris advanced to the second round of qualifying at the Australian Open on Tuesday, comfortably beating Czech player Zdenek Kolar 6-2 6-1.