Cape Town — Lloyd Harris, South Africa's lone entrant in this year’s Australian Open singles draw, produced the upset of the day in Melbourne on Monday when he defeated 17th seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-1 6-7(0) 2-6 7-6(4) in their first round clash.
At the end of the gruelling fifth set tie-break, Harris was unable to explain how he managed the feat against the 19th world-ranked Italian who had defeated him in their only other clash earlier in their careers.
Victorious in the match tiebreak 🙌
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 16, 2023
🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 Lloyd Harris survives a brave Musetti comeback!#AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/iLkDtfUwiP
At the post-match press conference, Harris was at a loss for words. “I'm still trying to figure out myself,” Harris said.
"Obviously I played a really good tie-breaker at the end. I think that's what it came down to. The set was dead even.
"We both broke each other once, and I just said to myself, ‘Am I going to miss a ball here?’
"Give it my all, and that's what I did. I think maybe that's what got me over the line."
Harris played out of his skin as he ran up a 2-0 lead, but then surrendered the advantage by allowing his opponent to win the next two sets.
Harris, at that stage, knew it was time to dig deep.
"I mean he is a good player. He is very talented," said Harris. "He is a young player and very good.
"I think I was controlling the match well and putting a lot of pressure on him. At some point in the third set, he was trying to find a way, and he was still missing.
"Then all of a sudden he got one or two opportunities, took it, and then he found a way better level and rhythm. At that stage, it was a little bit hard for me.
"I just had to step up and play a better level from there on out. It's as simple as that."
Harris, who has fallen to 186 in the world after a career-high 31 had a six-month injury layoff, He underwent surgery on his right wrist in June 2022. His first-round Australian Open conquest was particularly gratifying.
"It's been really hard. A lot of things, ups and downs," said Harris. "I mean, me and the team, family, everyone, we worked so hard for me to get back here.
"I mean, it feels amazing. It feels amazing to be back playing, enjoying the crowd, just enjoying the tennis. I mean, I had a blast out there today.
"I think win or lose, I mean, obviously, I would be very disappointed, but I was just enjoying the moment, the crowd, the atmosphere. It was great."
On Wednesday, Harris will face Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the second round. This will be the sixth time that Harris and Fucsovics have faced each other. The head-to-head is 3-2 to Fucsovics.
His best result in Melbourne was reaching the third round in 2021.
Fucsovics ranked 78 in the world, also needed five sets to get past Federico Coria of Argentina in their first round encounter.
IOL Sport