Despite a challenging year out due to recovering from major back surgery, South Africa’s Lloyd Harris is feeling buoyant, excited and ready for a deep run at Wimbledon 2025.
On the Sunday before The Championships, a relaxed Harris spoke with Amisha Savani at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon.
Protected ranking
This year, Harris did not need to qualify to enter the main draw due a couple of player withdrawals and thanks to his protected ranking.
Protected ranking is a system that helps players who have been injured for at least six months to re-enter the tour at a higher level than their current ranking allows.
The protection is based on Harris’s average ranking during the first three months of his injury.
This enabled Harris to enter the main draw despite his current world No 320 ranking.
The South African star spoke of missing out on eight months of tennis due to recovering from back surgery, saying that “it was not the easiest thing to come back from”.
However, he felt positive, “feeling very healthy and good now so you know it’s trending in the right direction so I’m excited to compete again and on the main stage”.
Harris spoke of his grass season preparation, having played in some warm-up Challenger events across the UK.
‘Feeling healthy’
On his Wimbledon hopes, he was “feeling healthy and good and trending in the right direction, and excited to compete again on the main stage”.
He spoke about it being busy week of preparing his body: “It was a great preparation week and the team is happy and everything”.
The Championships, Wimbledon began on Monday, 30 June.
Amisha Savani is reporting exclusively from the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon for The South African.
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