Antwerp 2020: Taylor Fritz vs Lloyd Harris preview, head-to-head & prediction | ATP European Open

Match details

Fixture: Taylor Fritz vs Lloyd Harris

Date: 22 October 2020

Tournament: European Open 2020

Round: Round of 16

Venue: Antwerp, Belgium

Category: ATP 250

Surface: Indoor hardcourt

Prize money: Approx. €394,800

Match timing: Approx. 2.20 pm CEST, 5.50 pm

Live Telecast: USA - ESPN / Tennis Channel

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Taylor Fritz vs Lloyd Harris preview

American youngster Taylor Fritz looked good in the first round at Antwerp, where he beat his compatriot and good friend Reilly Opelka in straight sets. The 22-year-old didn't face a break point the entire match, while committing just one double fault, to clinch a 7-6(5), 6-1 win and start his campaign in style.

It was an important victory for Fritz, who had a difficult time at St Petersburg last week. The youngster was knocked out in the first round of the tournament, falling to Cameron Norrie in straight sets.

In fact, Fritz had been ousted in his opening match at three out of four tournaments leading up to Antwerp. Now that he finally has some momentum on his side, he will be looking to build on it by going deep in the Belgian city.

Fritz's next opponent is Lloyd Harris, who sits 62 points behind him in the ATP rankings.

But Harris has also looked strong in the tournament so far. The South African ran through the qualifying rounds with straight-set victories over Zane Khan and Federico Coria, before coming up against Corentin Moutet in the first round.

Despite being 16 places behind Moutet in the rankings, Harris beat him comfortably - with a 7-5, 6-2 scoreline.

Lloyd Harris went toe to toe with world number 7, Alexander Zverev, at the Bett1HULKS Indoors in Cologne today - before losing in three sets (4-6, 6-3, 0-6). Nonetheless it was a very encouraging week for Lloyd, who came through qualifying to reach the last 8 of the ATP 250 event pic.twitter.com/A85VtNqX7k

— Tennis South Africa (@TennisSA) October 16, 2020

It has been an interesting year for the 23-year-old, who has an 11-10 win-loss record so far in 2020. Harris made his maiden ATP singles final at Adelaide in January, and also reached the quarterfinal at Cologne 1 last week.

The South African has two wins against top 10 players in his career so far, one of which came against Pablo Carreno Busta earlier this year. Harris will thus back himself against Fritz, who is ranked 28th in the world at the moment.

Taylor Fritz vs Lloyd Harris head-to-head

Taylor Fritz leads the head-to-head against Lloyd Harris by a margin of 1-0.

The two players had locked horns in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters earlier this year. Fritz was on top of his game in that encounter, and romped to a 6-1, 6-3 win.

Taylor Fritz vs Lloyd Harris prediction

Taylor Fritz will be keen to retain his newfound form

Taylor Fritz smacked 10 aces and won 89% of his first serve points against Reilly Opelka in the first round. Those numbers indicate how big of a weapon his serve is.

Fritz also has strong groundstrokes on both flanks. His forehand, which had been troubling him until his encounter against Opelka, picked up significantly as the match wore on.

Lloyd Harris on his part relies on his accurate baseline shot-making to stay toe-to-toe with his opponents. The South African has a good serve too, and enjoys dictating rallies from the back of the court.

Both players are tall, aggressive and in their early 20s. Needless to say, this promises to be a high-octane encounter.

Prediction: Taylor Fritz to win in three sets.