Home favourite and world No 4 Taylor Fritz secured his third round place at the US Open after defeating world No 353, South Africa’s Lloyd Harris, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday evening.
The victory keeps the American star on track to become the first American man to reach back-to-back US Open finals since Pete Sampras did so from 2000 to 2002.
With their head-to-head tied at one-all – with both matches played in 2020 (Antwerp and Cincinnati) – Harris’s form has been improving since his return from injury earlier this year.
Offensive approach
This was never going to be an easy win for 2024 finalist, Fritz.
Fritz made a sluggish start and it was Harris who clinched the first set thanks to an offensive approach, keeping Fritz at the back of the court, and relentlessly targeting the American’s backhand.
The windy conditions on Louis Armstrong didn’t help, causing Fritz to adapt his shots accordingly.
The momentum changed in the second set when an injury flare up forced Harris to take a medical timeout, helping Fritz clinch the second set tie-break 7-3.
From that point onwards, the world No 4 found his rhythm, serving impressively, with a total of 17 aces, landing 63% of first serves in, and winning 89 points on serve.
‘Tough win’
After the match, Fritz acknowledged that it was a tough win playing against such a solid player.
Amisha Savani asked the American star about his thoughts on Harris’s tennis, given that his opponent took the first set and made him up his level for the rest of the match.
“Lloyd is the same age as me. I’ve known Lloyd forever. He’s dangerous because he’s solid from the back.
“He doesn’t make a ton of mistakes, and he has a very good serve, so it’s one of those if you’re not on, it’s very easy to kind of just – I mean, what happened in the first, you know, I had some chances to break.
“He played well to save the break points. Then I played a little bit of a sloppier game, and he hit some good shots, then he breaks me in that set. That’s all it takes to drop a set. He’s a very solid player.”
Pivotal moment
When asked how Harris’s medical timeout impacted his game, given that it was at such a pivotal moment in the match, Fritz said that he noticed a change in his opponent’s movement, despite Harris’s powerful serving.
“His serve lost a little bit of pop, but he was still hitting, like, 120mph on the flat serve.
“Then at the end of the match when I got broken at 5-2, I thought he played, like, one of the most insane games ever. He was like running everywhere, and then I’m, like, okay, I’m not sure what’s going on.
“The way I kind of looked at it was I think he had maybe like a couple of flare-ups of some injuries and then it calmed down, and he felt better.
“I wasn’t totally sure, because like I said, there were times I thought he seemed a little off, and then there was times where I thought that he looked normal.
“I don’t actually know exactly what it was. Like I said, I think it probably was some things flared up and then maybe got better, but I tried to just play the same.”
Fritz faces another qualifier next. His third round opponent is Jerome Kym of Switzerland.
Amisha Savani is reporting exclusively from the US Open in Flushing Meadows for The South African.
Do you prefer watching men’s or women’s tennis?
Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1
Subscribe to The South African website’s newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
