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Lloyd Harris back into ATP Tour's top 100

Cape Town - Rising South African tennis star Lloyd Harris is back into the world's top 100 following an impressive showing at the Chengdu Open in China at the weekend.

The 22-year-old reached the semi-finals of an ATP Tour event for the first time, before losing to Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik in two tight sets, 7-6 (8/6), 6-4.

The last-four feat enabled Harris to move up 12 spots to No 99 in the latest ATP Tour rankings.

The Capetonian will be chuffed with his efforts in China - he lost in qualifying but entered the main draw as a "lucky loser" for the ATP 250 event.

Harris then beat Hungary's Marton Fucsovics (4-6, 6-4, 6-2), fifth-seeded Serbian Dusan Lajovic (6-3, 6-3) and Portugal's Joao Sousa (6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4) to reach the last four.

The South African has made great strides this year by qualifying for the main draws of all four Grand Slam events.

He also won his first Grand Slam match at the French Open when he defeated Czech qualifier Lukas Rosol 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 in a five-set classic at Roland Garros.

He achieved a career-high ranking of 82nd in July.

This week Harris will play in the Japan Open where he faces Australia's Alex de Minaur, the current world No 25 and a champion in Zhuhai last weekend.

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