SA’s Harris through to second round of French Open

Harris through to second round at French Open

JOHANNESBURG, June 1 (ANA) – South Africa’s Lloyd Harris continues to punch above his weight on the world circuit, and on Monday, he claimed the scalp of Lorenzo Sonego with a 7-5 6-4 6-4 upset win in a first-round French Open clash at Roland Garros in Paris.

The unseeded South African Harris is 54 on the latest world rankings, but he made light work of Italy’s 26th seeded Lorenzo Sonego, the world No 28, with a straight-sets win in just over two hours.

Sonego has been in excellent form recently, and last week he threatened briefly in a match on clay against world No 1 Novak Djokovic by claiming a set.

Harris’ opponents will regard him as a danger after his giant-killing acts against world No 4 Dominic Thiem and world No 12 Denis Shapovalov earlier this year.

The unseeded Brit Cam Norrie is next in the firing line. Norrie, the world No 45, on Monday defeated American qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo 7-5 7-6 6-2 and will meet Harris on Wednesday. The winner of this match could play Rafael Nadal, who has won the French Open nine times.

In his match against Sonego, Harris dropped serve early in the first set but fought back well with a break in the next game. At 5-all, Harris broke again and then held serve for a 7-5 first-set win after 46 minutes.

Harris’ lethal weapon, his much-vaunted serve, did not prove much of a problem for Sonego, who sent down three aces against one from the South African in the first set.

In the next two sets, Harris claimed a break of serve in each set before closing out a comfortable 7-5 6-4 6-4 win. – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman