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South African tennis star Lloyd Harris
South Africa Lloyd Harris bounced back from a set and a breakout on Friday to beat Denis Shapovalov Canada 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) and earn a place in the final in Dubai.
Harris, 24, is the first to reach the final of the tournament, having eliminated US Open champion Dominic Thiem and Kei Nishikori in previous rounds.
He will fight for his first ATP title against Andrey Rublev or Aslan Karatsev. He lost to Rublev in straight sets last year in Adelaide in his only previous tour-level final.
“I don’t have many words at the moment. I’m very happy with that win,” Harris said.
“Having a set and losing 2-4 is mentally and physically a bit problematic for me, but I found my best tennis from there. I am extremely happy with the result at the moment.”
Third seed Shapovalov appeared on his way to victory after shadowing a tiebreak in the first set and then breaking Harris in the fifth game of the second set.
However, the Canadian, who had not lost service all week, made a series of unforced errors and broke twice in a row when Harris forced a final set.
Both players maintained their serve throughout the deciding match before Harris triumphed on his second match point in another tiebreaker.
Dubai ATP results on Friday (x denotes seed):
Semifinals
Lloyd Harris (RSA) by Denis Shapovalov (CAN x3) 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-6 (8/6)
7 wins in 7 days ??@ lloydharris63 is shooting at full throttle this week in Dubai?#DDFTennispic.twitter.com/Mc9azMfxiM
– ATP Tour (@atptour) March 19, 2021
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