VILAMOURA, March 27, 2018

Lloyd Harris captured the title of the $25,000 Cascais Next Gen Tour, held on hard courts of the Vilamoura Tennis e Padel Academy. The 21-year-old from South Africa rallied from a set down to overcome No. 8 seed Roberto Ortega-Olmedo from Spain 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 in Sunday’s singles final.

Harris fired 11 aces, winning 76 per cent of his first service points and broke his opponent seven times to prevail after two hours and four minutes.

“Conditions during the week were incredibly difficult. There were many interruptions and delays because of the rain and it was always very windy. It was very difficult to play and so I’m extremely happy,” Harris told Portuguese tennis website Raquetc after the final.

The World No. 293 almost fell in the quarterfinals of the tournament. “I faced seven match points against Romain Barbosa and I had to fight a lot. I did not start well that day and struggled a lot. I needed some time to overcome the situation and start playing good tennis. In the last two games I played really well.”

By lifting his second trophy of the season, following his triumph in Sharm El Sheikh last month, Harris earns $3,600 in prize money as well as 25 ATP ranking points. He also takes away the point of the week, gaining an outrageous point with a fabulous tweener winner.

“This pretty much sums up the week here,” Harris comments on facebook. “Happy to get the title🥇 Vamos!”

Later on Sunday, Francisco Cabral and Tiago Cacao clinched the doubles trophies. The Portuguese duo, who entered the main draw with a wild card, defeaeted Fred Gil of Portugal and Lloyd Harris in the doubles final 6-3, 6-2. The encounter lasted 47 minutes.