In a series of exclusive features for SuperSport.com, Grant Shub speaks to coach of Lloyd Harris, Anthony Harris, as his charge navigates the Australian Open qualifiers and outlines the challenges faced in terms of opponents and the new ball being used…
He may have scaled the first hurdle by beating Spaniard Daniel Rincon in straight sets in his Australian Open first round qualifier but it remains an uphill battle to get back to the top. Harris, who has dropped out of the ATP top-100 because of an injury-enforced hiatus, has to win another two matches to reach the main draw of the year’s first major.
The 26-year-old, who has been based in Dubai for the last three years, has the benefit of a plethora of top-level professional hitting partners from which to choose but the relocation to the Middle East hasn’t made it any easier to obtain a wildcard for leading tournaments. Even though Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley is South African by birth, Team Harris were unable to secure a wildcard for the main draw which gets underway on Sunday. Australians Jason Kubler and James Duckworth have been handed golden tickets, while former champions Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki and the fit-again Emma Raducanu headline the wildcards on the women’s side of the draw.
“We tried to get a wildcard for the Australian Open but there is no chance being from South Africa,” Anthony Harris tells SuperSport.com from his hotel in the centre of Melbourne. “So what it means is that you really have to fight and earn it to make the main draw. When Lloyd first made the ATP top-100, he never gained a single wildcard!”
WILDCARDS LIKE HEN’S TEETH FOR SA STARS
Harris believes that South African tennis players are at a distinct disadvantage to their American and European counterparts as there aren’t any high-level domestic tournaments for which to trade wildcards. For Harris, the state of South African tennis is a significant point of concern and players are achieving on the global stage in spite of rather than because of the system. It’s an indictment for a country which has produced the likes of Wayne Ferreira, Amanda Coetzer and Kevin Anderson, who have all reached the top 10 in the world. Even Anderson, who is based in the United States, wasn’t offered a wildcard for last year’s US Open and was eliminated in the qualifiers.
“Unfortunately I don’t think that there is much tennis in South Africa,” Harris admits. “I know there are now a few more junior tournaments but we don’t have any professional tournaments and those in South Africa where we can trade wildcards,” says the former Zimbabwe No 1, citing one of the biggest stumbling blocks. “The reason we can’t get a wildcard for a tournament in the United States or Europe is because we don’t have any tournaments in South Africa to trade with and don’t really have any ITF Future events.”
THE QUALIFIERS HAVE RAISED IN STANDARD
In terms of the standard of tennis his charge will experience this week at the qualifiers, Harris says that the level has “definitely gone up” and the players who compete are only a single step away from making it. Lloyd Harris next faces Frenchman Kyrian Jacquet in the second round of qualifiers and he will again have to deliver a well-rounded display.
Of the AO qualifiers the man, who was born and bred in Zimbabwe and was Africa Junior champion in the early 1980s, notes: “You play against guys in their early twenties, who are fresh, have nothing to lose and are super-hungry. The players who are 100-200 on the ATP rankings are one step away from the 250s, 500s and 1000s.”
Incidentally Jacquet, who is currently No 201 in the world, played at the 2020 French Open qualifiers. But for Team Harris, the downside is that for opponents like him they don’t really know their games because there’s not that much footage. As such, it’s about Lloyd focusing on his own strengths and looking to dictate the points with his big serve.
A WHOLE NEW BALL GAME NOW IN FOCUS
When it comes to the court surface, coach Harris says that it’s not too fast and not too slow. As such, you can rally on the famous blue-painted hard courts and get the benefit if you strike. While the court seems to be playing true, Harris observes that the new ball being used has offered a point of difference as it starts off fast and gets extremely large.
“We have obviously been practicing with this ball because they sent us a couple of cartons so that we could do our pre-season with them but I’m still surprised by how huge the ball is getting,” says Harris. “It’s interesting because that changes a lot. When the ball is big and fluffy it becomes so difficult to put spin on it or hit it through the court.”
Despite a 6-2, 6-2 win over Rincon in the first round qualifier, Harris won’t let his star pupil rest on his laurels. He notes that the qualifier level is “very tricky” and you have really got to play the level in order to beat these guys. “They are not players who are just going to lose,” Harris stresses. “You’ve got to beat them and that is tough mentally.”
***The Australian Open, from 14 to 28 January, will be broadcast live on Your World of Champions. Harris plays his second round qualifier on Thursday at 4:55am (SA time)