SA's Lloyd Harris upsets Italian 17th seed in 5-set epic at Australian Open

South African tennis ace Lloyd Harris scored an upset win in the Australian Open first round on Monday when he eliminated Italian 17th seed Lorenzo Musetti.

Harris won a thrilling five-set encounter 6-4, 6-1, 6-7 (0/7), 2-6, 7-6 (10/4) in three hours and 48 minutes.

The 25-year-old Capetonian appeared to be coasting when he led by two sets and 4-1 in the third set, before the Italian fought back to take the match the distance.

After losing the fourth set 6-2, Harris regrouped and took an early break in the decider. But he dropped serve at 4-2 in the fifth set before the match went to a deciding tie-break. 

Harris held his nerve to win the tie-break handsomely, 10-4.

Victorious in the match tiebreak ?????? Lloyd Harris survives a brave Musetti comeback!#AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/iLkDtfUwiP

This is a significant win for Harris, who has had a tough time of late after a wrist injury saw him miss the second half of the 2022 season.

The former world No 31 was ranked No 186 in the world prior to the Australian Open and he entered the event on a protected ranking because of his injury.

Harris spent his time warming up for the year's first Grand Slam by playing Challenger Tour events.

He will next play Hungary's world No 78 Marton Fucsovics, who took out Argentina's Federico Coria 4-6, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-2.

Collated results from day one of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament at Melbourne Park on Monday:

Men's singles

First round

Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) bt Jack Draper (GBR) 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1

Mackenzie McDonald (USA) bt Brandon Nakashima (USA) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/1), 1-6, 6-7 (10/12), 6-4

Dalibor Svrcina (CZE) bt Jaume Munar (ESP) 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN x31) bt Mikael Ymer (SWE) 6-4, 6-2, 7-5

Karen Khachanov