The South African chose the hard way — three qualifying wins, then a clean main-draw job on Sunday.
Here’s the full picture so far and what the draw looks like from here.
How he got there
Lloyd Harris (Cape Town, 29, former world No. 31, currently around No. 133–139) had to win three qualifying matches just to reach the main draw. That is his seventh US Open appearance.
- Qualifying R1 (25 Aug): beat Bernard Tomic (AUS) 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
- Qualifying R2 (26/27 Aug): beat Henrique Rocha (POR, No. 119, 15th seed in quals) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (12-10) — the closest match of the week
- Qualifying R3 (28 Aug): beat Pablo Llamas Ruiz (ESP, No. 126, 18th seed in quals) 7-6 (3), 6-3
Main draw first round (Sunday 30 Aug, Court 12, 1h41–1h43):
Lloyd Harris beat American wildcard Jack Kennedy (18, Huntington, Long Island, ranked ~No. 386) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. Size and serve told — Harris is 6’4” to Kennedy’s 5’7” and hit 16 aces. Straight sets, no drama.
That result already guarantees him at least $190,000 in prize money.
The road from here
Second-round opponent is the winner of Stefanos Tsitsipas vs [10] Arthur Fils.
That match is today (Monday 31 Aug), first up on Louis Armstrong Stadium. Fils is the clear favourite: he won Cincinnati last week, leads the H2H 5-0, and betting markets have him heavily favoured. Tsitsipas (former world No. 3, now outside the top 50) is the more dangerous name on paper if he finds form.
Lloyd Harris’s R2 is expected Wednesday 2 September.
How tough is the section?
This is not a soft part of the draw. Already through nearby:
- Alexander Bublik [15]
- Tommy Paul [20]
Further in that half sit names like Ben Shelton [8] and Carlos Alcaraz [2] (Alcaraz plays Roman Safiullin today). A deep run would mean beating at least one established top-20 player, then likely another.
The 2021 reminder
Lloyd Harris’s best Slam remains the 2021 US Open quarter-finals. That year he beat Karen Khachanov, Ernesto Escobedo, Denis Shapovalov and Reilly Opelka before losing to Alexander Zverev. That run took him to a career-high No. 31. Injuries and form have made the years since inconsistent, which is why this qualifying-plus-R1 sequence matters.
Bottom line for SA tennis
Four matches won in a week on hard courts, serve firing, and a second-round date against either a recent Masters 1000 champion or a former Slam finalist.
For a player who has had to grind back through Challengers and qualifying, this is a proper platform. The next one will tell us if 2021 Flushing Meadows still lives in the legs.
