Harris Upsets Idol Wawrinka In Doha; Evans To Face Federer
09-Mar-2021 15:49:00 | ATP World Tour
Lloyd Harris recorded the biggest win of his career on Tuesday night at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. The South African qualifier withstood the power of Stan Wawrinka, the seventh seed and 2008 Doha finalist, in a 7-6(3), 6-7(6), 7-5 victory over two hours and 41 minutes for a place in the second round.
“I don’t have many words right now,” said Harris. “Stan was my idol growing up, so just to play against him was incredible. I was as determined as I could be, really pumped to play. I am proud of how I fought back after losing the second set. I feel like I’ve done really in the past couple of months and I hope to keep the momentum going.”
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Wawrinka recovered from 2/4 down in the second-set tie-break, finishing with a forehand approach and two backhand volleys to carry the momentum into the decider. But Harris came within two points of a 3-0 lead in the third set, before Wawrinka clawed his way back - only to be broken in the 11th game. The 24-year-old closed out to love, finishing with his 11th ace.
Harris, who is making his Doha tournament debut this week, will next face last week’s ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament finalist, Marton Fucsovics of Hungary. Fucsovics defeated Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic 7-6(3), 6-3 in one hour and 44 minutes.
Watch Tuesday Doha Highlights:
Daniel Evans saved 16 of 18 break points to beat France’s Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 in two hours and 55 minutes. The Briton will next face his frequent practice partner of the past two weeks, Roger Federer, in the second round on Wednesday.
“I thought he was playing pretty well,” said Evans, when asked about Federer’s form. “We played plenty of sets. It was competitive. But it's all very different when you get on the match court, as I found out today. I wasn't perfect out there, and I had been playing pretty well in practice. It will be a lot different tomorrow. It's going to be at night, as well, so a little slower.”
Elsewhere, Vasek Pospisil will play fellow Canadian and fourth seed Denis Shapovalov after defeating Australian qualifier Christopher O'Connell 6-3, 6-4 in 83 minutes.
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