When Lloyd Harris stands on the other side of the court to Spain’s world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the second round of the US Open on Friday, few will expect the South African to provide much of a challenge for the new raging talent in the game.
Harris, though, might have a few tricks up his sleeve. The South African used to train with a 15-year-old Alcaraz at the Juan Carlos Ferrero academy in Spain. Granted that was five years ago, and now Alcaraz finds himself at the pinnacle of the game, it will be a vastly different challenge this time around.
Harris has battled with injury the last few years since he rose to a career-high world ranking of 31st September 2021. Now ranked 177th on the ATP rankings, the 26-year-old will have a mountain to climb against Alcaraz.
In an interview with ATPTour.com, Harris spoke about those early days training with Alcaraz.
This is problematic
“I was practising every day with Carlos. He was already hitting the forehand way bigger than me and I was like, ‘This is problematic. He's 15.
“I was still able to beat him in sets, that was nice. But I think since then, it's been incredible to see the journey and what he’s capable of. You have so many factors that come together there. It's unbelievable, what a talent.”
Now aged 20, Alcaraz will obviously be a different player to the teenager Harris once encountered.
“The speed on the forehand was just incredible. The heaviness, the speed. That was definitely [his strength] at the time,” Harris said. “Obviously now you could say a lot of things. I don't want to give the guy too many compliments. I don't want to burst his bubble, but he's incredible, obviously.”
That Alcaraz is the defending champion and also recently bagged his second grand slam with victory over Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final as a new era in men’s tennis seemingly dawns, will make the prospect for Harris even more daunting.
While Alcaraz’s star has consistently risen, Harris has battled with a serious wrist injury which required surgery in June last year. Though Harris started 2023 well, beating world number 18 Lorenzo Musetti at the Australian Open, it’s been a struggle since.
“That was obviously a little bit of a dream start, playing really well the first couple of weeks, getting a big win in Australia,” Harris said.
“But it hasn't quite been such a fairytale comeback after that. After Australia I played one more tournament, had to pull out and then missed almost three months again. And it's been tough.”
New injury battles
In fact, while the wrist has not given Harris any trouble this year - his glute has now been acting up as he searches to regain full fitness.
“That was just a very difficult thing to get rid of. It's not just a muscle, it's a nerve thing,” Harris said. “It doesn't matter how much you treat it, it doesn't really want to go away. But now finally, it's kind of leaving me, so that's a good thing.”
It’s now just a matter of matching his form with his physical fitness, which will take time explains Harris.
“It's been okay, it hasn't been awful. It also just hasn't been great. But I think I have to be patient and build myself back gradually to where I was, and hopefully climb from there,” Harris said.
“So just trying to be patient and trying to work on the game, work on the physical side. And I think it all will come together eventually. It is just about putting in the work and taking the time.”