Lloyd Harris marches on at Barcelona Open

South African tennis star Lloyd Harris advanced to the third round of the Barcelona Open after a solid win over Albert Ramos-Vinolas on Wednesday.

The unseeded Harris beat the 17th seeded Spaniard 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 38 minutes.

Harris was sublime on serve, slamming down 11 aces in overcast conditions and never dropping serve in the match.

Ramos-Vinolas, who served only two aces, lost serve twice and couldn't convert on any of his six break point chances.

??UPSET ALERT??Lloyd Harris defeats the 17th seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3 6-4 to progress in Barcelona!@bcnopenbs | #BCNOpenBS pic.twitter.com/wlr7dwgVtw

Harris, the world No 40, had started the clay court event with an equally impressive win over local hope Roberto Carballes Baena on Tuesday.

The Capetonian will next face either Australian 10th seed Alex de Minaur or Frenchman Ugo Humbert.

After an indifferent start to the year, Harris impressed by reaching the last 16 of a Masters 1000 event for the first time at the Miami Open last month.

He started his clay season with a first round loss to Hungary's Marton Fucsovics at last week's Monte Carlo Masters and entered the Barcelona Open with a 5-9 ATP win-loss record in 2022.