SA's Lloyd Harris aces his way to impressive win at Atlanta Open

South African qualifier Lloyd Harris rallied from a set down to beat Australian James Duckworth 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 at the Atlanta Open on Monday.

The 26-year-old Capetonian slammed 18 aces to move into the Round of 16 at the ATP 250-level event. Duckworth, in contrast, hit five aces.

In a high-quality match, Harris finished with 32 winners and only 12 unforced errors, while Duckworth had 22 winners and eight unforced errors.

Ripper on the run ??Top shelf shot from Lloyd Harris ??#AtlantaOpen pic.twitter.com/NLcd22bNiu

Harris, a former world No 31, is now ranked 204th in the world after missing the final six months of the 2022 season following wrist surgery. He recently pushed Wimbledon quarter-finalist Christopher Eubanks to a third-set tie-break in the semi-finals of the Mallorca grass-court event.

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“Happy to be playing tennis again, honestly.”Lloyd Harris ???? following today’s second straight three-set win to reach the Atlanta R16…The former no.31 sat out back half of ‘22 to recover from wrist surgery less than a year after his ‘21 US Open QF run #AtlantaOpen pic.twitter.com/E4vwcLEvDl

Harris reached the Atlanta main draw after coming through qualifying where he beat two Americans - Donald Young 6-1, 6-2 and Michael Mmoh 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/2).

Harris will next face the winner of Tuesday's all-French contest between seventh-seed Ugo Humbert and Constant Lestienne.