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Sports / Qatar Sport

Harris stuns Wawrinka as Evans looks to ‘trouble’ Federer in Doha

Published: 10 Mar 2021 - 09:36 am | Last Updated: 28 Dec 2021 - 11:39 am
Lloyd Harris of South Africa celebrates a match point during his round one match against Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland on Day 2 of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2021 at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, yesterday.

Lloyd Harris of South Africa celebrates a match point during his round one match against Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland on Day 2 of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2021 at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, yesterday.

Fawad Hussain | The Peninsula

South African qualifier Lloyd Harris yesterday pulled off the first big upset at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, shocking seventh seeded Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (3), 6-7 (6), 7-5, yesterday.     

The two battled out for two hours and 41 minutes at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex last night before the 24-year-old emerged victorious against the World No.20.   

“I don’t have many words right now,” Harris said after his win. 

“Stan was my idol growing up, so just to play against him was incredible. I was as determined as I could be, really pumped to play. I am proud of how I fought back after losing the second set. I feel like I’ve done really in the past couple of months and I hope to keep the momentum going,” he added. 

World No.84 Harris – making his debut in Doha – hit 11 aces and though Wawrinka (17) fired more aces, the South African was successful in saving seven break points he faced.    

The Swiss after losing the first set fought back from 2-4 down in the second set tie-break to take the match into decider, which saw Harris taking a 3-0 lead.

Wawrinka recovered from there but it wasn’t his day as Harris completed the win with an ace. 

Harris will face Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics, who defeated Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (3), 6-3 in one hour and 44 minutes, earlier yesterday.

Meanwhile, sixth seeded David Goffin beat Serbia's Filip Krajinovic 6-4, 6-4 in yesterday’s last match. The Belgian, who completed victory in 1 hour 22 minutes will meet American Taylor Fritz in the second round.


Daniel Evans of Great Britain returns the ball to Jeremy Chardy of France during their first round match yesterday.

Yesterday, Britain’s Daniel Evans overcame a tough challenge from Jeremy Chardy, beating the in-form Frenchman 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 in 2 hours 16 minutes. 

The prize of a win for World No.28 is a second round clash with his practice partner Roger Federer, who will be seen in action in a competitive match for the first time since Australian Open 2020, following two knee surgeries last year.       

Evans, playing his first match after losing at the Australian Open, had to dig deep against Chardy, who made a fightback after dropping the first set.    


Roger Federer of Switzerland watches the Round One match between Jeremy Chardy and Daniel Evans. 

With Federer watching the action from stands, Evans saved 10 break points in the first set, including six in his first service game. Chardy took five games in a row in the second set before Evans came back strongly in the decider, which saw the Frenchman struggling with leg problem.        

Evans, 30, has been a practice partner of the Swiss maestro since 2019. 

“We practised for last two weeks and I thought he was playing pretty well,” the Briton said about Federer’s current form.

“We played plenty of sets. It was competitive. But it’s all very different when you get on the match court, as I found out today,” Evans said yesterday. 

Evans hoped to give a solid performance against Federer as the two will meet in the Round of 16, today.   

“The last time I played him was at the US Open, and I think I had a tough match the day before against (Lucas) Pouille. I was pretty cooked that day. I’d say I’m definitely a lot better now. I feel more comfortable. In that sense, obviously he’s not played so much. It will be a little different for him tomorrow, as well. Probably my better chance to get some good tennis out there and trouble him,” Evans said.

Meanwhile, Canada’s Vasek Pospisil booked second-round match with fifth-seeded compatriot Denis Shapovalov after a  6-3, 6-4 win over Australia’s Christopher O’Connell. 

Also yesterday, Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri outsmarted Slovakia’s Norbert Gombos 6-2, 7-5 to advance into the second round, where he will meet Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili.