SA tennis ace Lloyd Harris digs deep to reach Miami Open last 16

South Africa's Lloyd Harris dug deep to beat Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka in the Miami Open third round on Monday.

Harris, the world No 44, beat the 96th-ranked Japanese player 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 34 minutes.

It was a gruelling battle that went down to the wire, but the South African handled the pressure better than his opponent to reach the round of 16 at a Masters 1000 event for the first time.

Serving at 4-4 in the final set, Harris was under the cosh and had to save break points on three separate occasions.

At 5-5, Harris again saved two break points, and then took his opportunity on his first match point in the next game.

Oh my Lloyd ????@lloydharris63 is into the Round of 16 of a Masters 1000 for the very first time - defeating Nishioka 7-6(5) 4-6 7-5!#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/BAwJpmmX3b

Harris slammed 19 aces to Nishioka's two - a statistic that proved vital in the final outcome.

It has been an inconsistent year so far for Harris - he entered the Miami Open with 2-7 ATP win-loss record - but he seems to be finding the form that saw him progress to the quarter-finals of the US Open last year.

In the round of 16, Harris will face defending champion and eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz from Poland, who beat 29th seeded Aslan Karatsev 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.