SA's Lloyd Harris aces his way into Mallorca Championships semi-finals

South African tennis ace Lloyd Harris reached the semi-finals of the Mallorca Championships after a straight sets win over Russian Pavel Kotov on Thursday.

The 26-year-old old Capetonian won 7-5, 6-2 in one hour and 37 minutes.

Harris, who reached a career-high ranking of No 31 in 2021, entered the tournament ranked 298th in the world. He had struggled with injury over the past year.

Harris proved far too strong for 116th-ranked Kotov on the grass service. He never looked bothered on serve, slamming 11 aces to Kotov's three.

Harris also broke his opponent's serve three times.

Harris in wonderland ??@lloydharris63 reaches his 5th tour-level semi final in Mallorca! He defeats Kotov 7-5 6-2.#MallorcaChampionships pic.twitter.com/ffLFUMZnHX

Earlier in the week, Harris, won his first ATP match in five months when he knocked out Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) in the first round.

Harris then beat fellow qualifier Roman Safiullin 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 to reach the last eight.

He came through qualifying to reach the main draw of the ATP 250-level grass court event, which is a tune-up to Wimbledon.

Harris missed the second half of 2022 after undergoing wrist surgery and has built his comeback gradually.

He recorded a 10-5 win-loss record for the season on the ATP Challenger Tour but arrived in Mallorca off the back of four consecutive defeats at ATP level.

In the semi-finals, Harris will face either Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech or American Christopher Eubanks.