Qualifier Harris stuns top seed Thiem in Dubai

DUBAI: Top seed Dominic Thiem has crashed out of the Dubai Duty Free Championships following a shock 6-3 6-4 defeat to qualifier Lloyd Harris.

South African Harris upset the 2020 US Open champion, ranked four in the world, after breaking midway through the opening set and then crucially in the seventh game of the second to complete his win in 73 minutes on Tuesday evening.

Harris, the world number 81, will meet Filip Krajinovic in the last 16 after the Serbian 14th seed beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-5 6-4. Earlier, second seed Andrey Rublev extended his ATP 500 winning streak to 21 matches with a 6-4 6-4 victory against qualifier Emil Ruusuvuori.

The world number eight is chasing his fifth consecutive ATP 500 title, having won the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam at the start of March. American Taylor Fritz secured a third-round showdown against Rublev after the number 15 seed came from behind to beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 4-6 6-3 7-6 (4).

Canadian third seed Denis Shapovalov produced a dominant display to defeat Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1 6-3 in just over an hour. Number four seed Roberto Bautista Agut progressed after Matthew Ebden retired in the first set, when he was trailing 4-1 to the Spaniard.

World number 13 David Goffin is out after losing 6-3 7-6 (3) to Japan’s Kei Nishikori. Karen Khachanov needed three sets to see off wildcard Alexei Popyrin, the world number 22 progressing 6-4 3-6 7-6 (4).

Dusan Lajovic beat Tunisian wildcard Malek Jaziri 7-5 6-2 to reach the last 16, where he will play Marton Fucsovics following the Hungarian’s battling 6-7 (5) 6-3 6-2 victory over sixth seed Pablo Carreno Busta.

Australian Open semi-finalist Aslan Karatsev knocked out British number one Dan Evans, the Russian wildcard beating the number 12 seed 6-4 4-6 6-4, and Aljaz Bedene won 6-4 6-3 against Lorenzo Giustino.

Hubert Hurkacz defeated veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-3 6-4 and will next face Shapovalov, while Jannik Sinner battled through in three sets against Alexander Bublik to win 2-6 7-6 (2) 6-4.

At the Mexico Open in Acapulco, Britain’s 61st-ranked Cameron Norrie beat American qualifier Stefan Kozlov 6-3 6-3 to book a second round match with sixth seed Fabio Fognini, who defeated fellow Italian Stefano Travaglia 7-5 6-2.

Argentinian third seed Diego Schwartzman was a shock first round loser to Italian qualifier Lorenzo Musetti, 6-3 2-6 6-4, but top seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas breezed past France’s Benoit Paire 6-3 6-1.

Fourth-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic accounted for American Tommy Paul 7-6 (6) 6-4, while fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria progressed when Frenchman Adrian Mannarino retired injured while trailing 6-4 3-0.

Frances Tiafoe narrowly defeated his fellow American, qualifier Brandon Nakashima, 6-4 6-7 (5) 7-6 (5), Dutch qualifier Tallon Griekspoor beat American Denis Kudla 7-6 (4) 4-6 6-3, Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic overcame Spain’s Felicio Lopez 6-4 6-4, and eighth-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud moved past Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4 6-1.