Lloyd Harris: South Africa's Tennis Star

Jun 07, 2025 0

Lloyd George Muirhead Harris, born on February 24, 1997, is a tennis player from South Africa who competes on the professional men’s circuit.

Lloyd Harris at the 2023 Cary Challenger

He was born and lives in Cape Town. Harris turned pro in 2015 and ended the year with a single ranking of 358.

Lloyd Harris was born in Cape Town, South Africa and began playing tennis at age 3 before committing professionally to the sport at 15.

Harris started playing tennis when he was three years old but also played rugby, cricket, athletics and swimming.

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“That kept me excited for tennis and I kept on enjoying it. That was great,” Harris said.

Early Career and Rise

During the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Harris mainly played in the ITF Futures tour.

In June 2015, Harris won his first ITF Futures singles title in Mozambique F2. In 2015 Harris reached five ITF Futures tour single finals, winning four. Harris started the year reaching four ITF Futures tour finals, winning three.

In November 2012, Harris won his first ITF junior singles title at the G5 in Windhoek, Namibia. As a junior, Harris reached a ranking of No.

In January, Harris qualified for his second main draw at a Grand Slam at the 2019 Australian Open. On 4 February 2019, due to his victory at the Launceston Tennis International, Harris reached World No.

Nickname and Davis Cup Experience

Lloyd Harris’s nickname is “King”. In an interview to Agence France Presse, Harris shared the backstory of how he earned the nickname of “King”.

“I was only 19 when I made it into the South Africa Davis Cup team which was a group full of older guys, 27, 28, and into their 30s,” Harris said.

2021 Season: Breakthrough Year

Harris started his 2021 season in February at the Murray River Open.

Harris then qualified for the Dubai Tennis Championships.

There, after beating Christopher O'Connell, he won his first match against a top 10 player by defeating top seed and world no. 3 Dominic Thiem in the first round.

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Harris then beat Filip Krajinović, Kei Nishikori and third seed Denis Shapovalov to reach his first ATP 500 final.

Lloyd Harris became the first qualifier ever to reach the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships since its inception in 1993. The South African beat top seed Dominic Thiem, 14th seed Filip Krajinovic, former US Open champion Kei Nishokori, and then Denis Shapovalov.

Harris scored the biggest win of his career at the Citi Open in Washington DC in on August 5, 2021.

In Washington, Harris, seeded 14th, defeated Tennys Sandgren and world no.

At the US Open, Harris defeated 25th seed Karen Khachanov and Ernesto Escobedo to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the second time in his career.

He then defeated Denis Shapovalov for the third top 10 win of his career. In the fourth round, he defeated Reilly Opelka to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Lloyd Harris reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time at the 2021 US Open. Harris beat Karen Khachanov and Denis Shapovalov en route to the last eight, losing to Alexander Zverev.

He was defeated by world no. 4 Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals. He also reached the third round at the 2021 Australian Open.

Harris reached his career-high ATP ranking of No 31 after his run to the quarter-finals at the US Open in 2021.

2022 Season and Wrist Surgery

Harris started his 2022 season at the Adelaide International 2. In February, Harris competed at the Rotterdam Open. He was eliminated in the first round by Ilya Ivashka.

However, he reached his first ATP doubles final with German Tim Pütz. They lost in the final to Robin Haase and Matwé Middelkoop.

Seeded eighth at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, he was beaten in the first round by Márton Fucsovics.

Last year finalist at the Dubai Championships, he lost in the first round to lucky loser Alex Molčan.

Representing South Africa during the Davis Cup tie against Israel, Harris got his first singles win of the season by beating Daniel Cukierman in his first match.

Partnering in doubles with compatriot Raven Klaasen, they lost to Daniel Cukierman and Jonathan Erlich. He then lost his second singles match to Yshai Oliel.

Harris began his clay-court season at the Monte-Carlo Masters.

Ranked No.

The South African underwent surgery on his right wrist mid-way through the 2022 season.

Recent highlights

South Africa's Lloyd Harris secures Roland Garros main draw spot! 🇿🇦 Back in top form, South Africa's top-ranked player, Lloyd Harris, battled past former World No. 3 Marin Čilić 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the Roland Garros qualifying finals on Friday to book his place in the main draw. Harris will open his campaign against 17th seed Andrey Rublev in Sunday's first round.

Coaching and Personal Life

During the last tournament that his parents could afford, he qualified for two futures and made quarterfinals of one, and semi finals of the other.

From this success he received enough support to play five more weeks of futures around Africa. In early 2018, he was playing in Portugal when he received the news of his father passing away the day before his match.

Harris was coached by Norman McCarthy as a child, and in 2012 at the age of 15 joined the Anthony Harris Tennis Academy.

He has been coached by Anthony Harris ever since.

Career Statistics

He has been ranked as high as world No. 31 in singles by the ATP, achieved on 13 September 2021, making him the current African and South African No. 1 men's singles player. He has a career-high doubles ranking of world No.

Lloyd Harris has yet to win a title on Tour but has made two finals. He reached his first final in Adelaide in 2020, losing out to Russia’s Andrey Rublev.

Statistic	Value
Full Name	Lloyd George Muirhead Harris
Country	South Africa
Residence	Cape Town, South Africa
Born	24 February 1997 (age 28), Cape Town, South Africa
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned Pro	2015
Plays	Right-handed (two handed-backhand)
Prize Money	US $3,951,757
Career Record (Singles)	77-84 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career Titles (Singles)	0
Highest Ranking (Singles)	No. 31 (13 September 2021)
Current Ranking (Singles)	No. 224 (5 May 2025)
Highest Ranking (Doubles)	No. 108 (6 June 2022)
Current Ranking (Doubles)	No.

Grand Slam singles results:

Australian Open: 3R (2021)
French Open: 2R (2019, 2020, 2021)
Wimbledon: 2R (2021, 2024)
US Open: QF (2021)

“When I started watching, I took a big liking in some of their players. Heung-min Son, Harry Kane probably my favourites,” Harris said in Adelaide in 2020. “Then I just started supporting them. Got the shirt, got everything that goes with it. And to be honest, I have been following them like every single match.