CAPE TOWN – Lloyd Harris bowed out of the 2020 Australian Open on Tuesday when he lost 6-4 6-2 6-2 to the No 14 seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina in a first-round men's singles clash in Melbourne.
The three-setter lasted just 105 minutes after the South African dropped serve six times in the match. He won the eventual ace count 8-4 but that mattered little on a day when he also made 47 unforced errors against 18 by Schwartzman, who has a No 14 world ranking.
Harris, last week's Adelaide finalist - his first ATP Tour final appearance, was initially scheduled to play on Monday but rain forced organisers to move the match out to Tuesday. He arrived at the Aussie Open with career-high No 72 ranking after a jump of 19 places following his Adelaide campaign.
Next up for Harris will be an exhibition match against fellow South African Kevin Anderson on February 2, at the national final of BNP Paribas RCS Rising Star Tennis in Soweto.
Anderson will start his 2020 Aussie Open campaign against qualifier Ilya Ivashka, of Belarus, later Tuesday. In their only ever previous meeting, Anderson was a straight-sets victor in March 2018.