Harris produces the goods against Thiem
Updated | By Nick Tatham
South African Lloyd Harris produced the result of his career when he downed number one seed Dominic Thiem in straight sets 6-3 6-4 in round two of the Dubai Duty Free Championship on Tuesday.
Harris had to enter the main draw via the qualifiers when he won both matches in straight sets and followed that up with a three set win over Chris O'Connell in the first round to set up a meeting with the world number three.
It was a first win against a member of the world's top five for the 24 year-old who was as calm as ever throughout his dismantling of the 2020 US Open champion.
“I was serving really well. I don’t think I faced any break points,” said Harris. “I took control of those games and [in] one or two games on his serve, I gave myself a good look. I played some of the important points very well. I am very proud of that.”
Taking on a player of Thiem's stature and ability often proves tough but for Harris he knew what he needed to do when he got towards the end of the clash.
"I was pretty calm, I just tried to focus on what I needed to do and I knew that in the last game he was going to produce some good tennis.
"You really have to work for wins like this and I thought I held my nerve really well and just focused on what I was doing well all match."
Harris onyl dropped one point behind his first serve, winning 29 of 30 on offer, and struck 23 winners to eliminate the Austrian in just 72 minutes.
The World Number 81 showed his control throughout with his neverve never being forced to deuce and not dropping a game in the match.
For Thiem he feels that at the moment he has to improve his game if he wants to continue to compete.
“I had troubles returning his serve," said Thiem. "There were also way too many easy mistakes from my side, from the baseline. I said a couple of days ago that if I am not playing at my best level, it is not enough against all of the players in the draw.”
Harris will meet 14th seed Filip Krajinovic for a quarter-final spot. The Serbian defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-5, 6-4 in 80 minutes.
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