In an exciting twist for tennis fans, South Africa’s Lloyd Harris is set to face American 14th-seed Ben Shelton in the second round of this year’s Wimbledon on Wednesday, July 3rd.

Harris, the sole South African in singles action at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club this year, made it to the second round following a gripping victory over another American, Alex Michelsen, on Monday.

In a nail-biting five-set match, Harris triumphed with scores of 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 7-6 (11/9), on Court 9, a battle that lasted three hours and 31 minutes.

Shelton’s Path to the Second Round

On the other hand, Ben Shelton also endured a tough first round, edging past Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci in another five-setter, with scores of 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

This will be the first encounter between Harris and the left-handed Shelton at the ATP tour level.

I’ll be super excited.

I’m going to go out there with my fighting spirit again.”

Their match is scheduled for Court 12, and fans are eagerly awaiting this thrilling clash.

Qualifying Rounds Success

Just last week, Harris navigated through three rounds of qualifying to earn his place in the men’s singles main draw.

He secured victories against Italy’s Andrea Vavassori (6-2, 6-2), Britain’s George Loffhagen (7-6 [8/6], 7-6 [7/5]), and France’s Hugo Grenier (6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 [7/5]).

Financial Rewards Await

Regardless of how far he advances, Harris is already assured of a substantial payday.

For progressing through the qualifying rounds, he earned £40,000 (R935,000).

If he loses his second-round match, he is guaranteed an additional £93,000 (R2.16 million).

Harris has thus matched his best Wimbledon performance from 2021, when he also reached the second round.

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