ATP Melbourne suffers another blow as Lloyd Harris withdraws

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• ATP Tennis

World No. 31 Lloyd Harris has withdrawn from an ATP event in Melbourne. Harris, 24, was scheduled to start the second season in a row by playing an ATP event in Melbourne. Harris kicked off his 2021 season at the Murray River Open in Melbourne, where he lost to Egor Gerasimov in his opener.

The ATP event in Melbourne has suffered some big losses as previously Kei Nishikori, Alexander Bublik, Richard Gasquet and Peter Gojowczyk also pulled out. Following the withdrawal of Harris, a place in the Melbourne main draw opened for Alex Molcan.

Melbourne 250 update:
OUT: Harris
IN: Molcan
Next: Monteiro — Entry List Updates (@EntryLists) December 31, 2021

Harris stunned Rafael Nadal in 2021

Harris claimed the biggest win of his career in Washington when he surprised Nadal 6-4 1-6 6-4.

A month later, Harris made his maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open. Harris was asked what was the bigger achievement -- beating Nadal or making his maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal. "Obviously when you beat a legendary player like Rafa, who's achieved everything that he's achieved in his career, it's probably one of my most memorable matches that I've ever had," Harris said after the US Open.

"Beating a 20-time Grand Slam champion was extremely special but then if you look at a tournament as a whole, it's definitely a much bigger thing to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final. There's a lot more coverage, a lot more people watching and tuning in, bigger stadiums...

"So, I would say the US Open was definitely the better result as a tournament. There were multiple good wins for me at the US Open... beating Khachanov, Opelka and Shapo (Shapovalov) in a Grand Slam... that's not an easy task within itself.

"I did go out [in the quarter-finals] in the end, but it was still one of my best tournaments ever, if not my best, so if I'd have to put it all into perspective then I would have to go with [the] US Open probably being my best result to date."