Medvedev shows no mercy to SA rookie
After a gruelling qualifying schedule, SA’s Lloyd Harris had no answers in the first round of the Australian Open‚ crashing out to Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, in straight sets on Tuesday.
The 15th-seeded Medvedev thrashed the 21-year-old Capetonian 6-1 6-2 6-1 in just one hour 47 minutes.
No 5 seed Kevin Anderson is the only South African left in the singles draw.
However, Raven Klaasen and American partner Michael Venus are the No 6 seeds in the men’s doubles‚ which start on Wednesday.
Harris‚ the world No 119, gave a nervy performance in only his second appearance at a Grand Slam‚ producing 39 unforced errors against the 13 from Medvedev.
Harris also struggled on serve and only won seven of 28 (25%) points on his second serve‚ which gave the Russian an easy ride through the match.
The final game of the contest was a microcosm of the entire match as Harris made four unforced errors on serve.
But it was a good experience for Harris‚ who earned US$35,500 (R495,000) as a firstround loser.
He also qualified for the main draw of the US Open in September 2018 and is rapidly rising up the rankings after being ranked 291 in the world this time in 2018.
Medvedev‚ who made the ATP final in Brisbane earlier in January‚ is in good form.
In Brisbane, Medvedev beat Andy Murray‚ Milos Raonic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on his way to the final before losing to Kei Nishikori.
The 22-year-old Russian will next meet American Ryan Harrison‚ who beat Czech Jiri Vesely 6-0 7-5 6-3. –