(SATSports) – South Africa’s Lloyd Harris broke into the top 50 of the latest ATP rankings after an impressive start to the year.
Harris moved up two places to a career-high 50th place despite the disappointment of withdrawing from the Miami Open due to a wrist injury after earning his maiden ATP Masters 1000 victory at the event.
Last month, the 24-year-old climbed 29 places from 81st place up to a then career-high ranking 52nd place following his historic run to the final of the Dubai Tennis Championship.
That run saw him defeat U.S. Open champion and world number four Dominic Thiem, rising Canadian star Denis Shapovalov and former top five-ranked player Kei Nishikori.
Harris became the first qualifier to reach the tournament’s final but agonizingly fell short of claiming his maiden Tour-level title after he lost to Aslan Karatsev in straight sets.
According to the ATP, Harris has jumped 40 places since the start of 2021 and remains the top-ranked African men’s player.
Two-time Grand Slam finalist and former world number five Kevin Anderson is a distant second in position 108 after dropping 17 places.
The 34-year-old South African has been plagued by injury in recent years resulting in a dip in form. Anderson’s last tournament appearance was a first round loss to Bosnian Damir Džumhur at the Miami Open.
Mohamed Safwat of Egypt maintained his place in the top 200 but also dropped one place to lie in position 160.
