Lloyd Harris keeps racking up the achievements as the 2018 season rolls along. And the South African #NextGenATP is pressing towards yet another: the Top 100 in the ATP Rankings.

Harris dominated the field in Stockton, California, to claim his second ATP Challenger Tour title on Sunday, defeating fellow #NextGenATP Marc Polmans 6-2, 6-2 in the championship. Two months ago, he became the first South African to lift a trophy in five years. Now, the 21-year-old proved that he’s not done with just one. 

The Cape Town native dropped just one set all week, earning impressive wins over an in-form Christopher Eubanks, top seed Jordan Thompson and eighth seed Polmans. He joins as exclusive club in becoming the third #NextGenATP with multiple titles this year, in addition to Jaume Munar and Michael Mmoh.

And most importantly, Harris is up to a career-high No. 113 in the ATP Rankings and rises four spots to 10th in the ATP Race to Milan. Having resided in 20th place prior to his triumph in Lexington, he is now firmly in contention to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals.

Behind a ruthless run that has included a pair of Challenger titles, a successful US Open qualifying campaign and a first Top 50 win over Gael Monfils at the Chengdu Open, Harris has fast become one of the hottest players in pro tennis. He’s showing no signs of slowing down as the season nears its conclusion.

?? @lloydharris63 is the champion in Stockton, claiming his second #ATPChallenger title of the year with a 62 62 win over Polmans.

Joins Jaume Munar and Michael Mmoh as #NextGenATP with multiple ? in 2018 pic.twitter.com/YSnqY9k0yl

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) October 8, 2018

Harris sat down with broadcaster Mike Cation following his victory on Sunday…

Lloyd, it was an impressive performance, especially considering how windy it was. We were looking at sustained winds of over 20 miles per hour. How did you stay focused in those conditions?
Thank you very much first of all. I came out and saw the wind and knew it was going to be a very tricky match for both of us. I think I like to dominate with my serve, but it was almost impossible to get any free points. I knew I was going to have to be smart with my game and from the start I was zoning in on him with every single point. I was focused and I played the big points well and got some breaks early. I looked to hold my serve and keep the momentum going. It was a good performance.

From the start, it looked like you were willing to take chances. Where does that confidence come from and how has it been building through this incredible year for you?
I was willing to take the risk, whether it was break point or 15/0. I knew I was going to take the initiative in most of the points and try to be as aggressive as possible with my forehands and backhands. I feel really confident out there and I’ve played a lot of matches this year. Getting a lot of wins in the last couple of months has really built my confidence up nicely. Last week I had the biggest win of my career (d. Monfils at Chengdu Open) and that really helps for sure. I’m just playing very good tennis at the moment.

For a lot of players, when they have that first monumental win on the ATP World Tour, find it hard come back down to a Challenger the next week. And especially in a different continent. How did you do that?
There was a bunch of things that happened in Chengdu. I got my biggest win and I lost 7-6 in the third the match after. Then, the 15-hour time difference. It was a tricky turnaround for sure. Luckily, I had 3-4 days to settle down and get used to the conditions. But I just came out there and did what I had to do in each match. I got better as the tournament progressed. I’m happy with the tennis I played for sure.

Now you’re No. 113 in the ATP Rankings and you’re in touching distance to the Top 100 for the first time in your career. How do you maintain this form without getting over confident?
The key for me is to keep improving my game and doing the hard work. I feel like if I keep doing that, the tennis will stay good. As long as I keep a positive mindset, I’ll play better and have strong results in the future. I’m not expecting anything and giving it my all every day.

What are the points of improvement that you’re working on, in the back end of the year? Are there specific things or are you just coasting now at a good level and want to continue with these results?
I’m constantly trying to work on things. It’s a mixture of tweaking small things in my game, like moving forward and working on my volley game, and also the transition from playing defence to being more offensive. Just the small things and I felt that it’s really paying off. After a great run in the U.S. summer, I went home and took 2.5 weeks to think about how I want to improve and what I want to do with my game. I’ve come back even stronger and am playing even better than I wanted to before. 

One of the things I remember from last year was that you can go off mentally and lose focus. A part of that is youth. How have you matured in that part of your game?
It’s a problem a lot of players have. That is, keeping the focus throughout an entire match and an entire tournament. At the Challenger level and at the ATP level, you can’t have that. Any dips will cost you the match. So, I feel like I’ve really improved on that. I’m trying to compete in every single point. It doesn’t matter if it’s 0/40 or whatever the score may be. I’m trying to compete hard. In the last couple of months I’ve really done that well and made a mental shift.

Speaking of which, the one set you lost this week was against Christopher Eubanks in the quarter-finals and you looked pretty out of it. What happened there and how did you turn that around?
I couldn’t even finish my warm-up that day. I woke up and was not feeling well. I was pretty nauseous. I actually thought he was going to take advantage more, but I got it to a tie-break. And when I lost the first set I had to recuperate and get my thought process positive again. I thought I did well in the second set and he gave me a game with a couple of double faults. Right then and there, I went up another gear and took control of the match. That’s something that is important to do if you want to become a top player.

And you came out with a coffee right before the match.
Me not feeling well definitely had a lot to do with the coffee. It was one of the only days in the last two years where I had a coffee and still couldn’t get going in the first set. Starbucks should definitely start sponsoring me one of these days for sure.

After Lexington, we were talking about the South African connection. Kevin Anderson and Raven Klaasen are sending messages to you. Robbie Koenig too. With this core group of South Africans who are playing professionally – and Robbie as well – what does it mean to have another guy like you?
I think it’s massive for the country. One thing we’ve been lacking as a country has been depth. We’ve only had Anderson at the top and also Raven in the doubles. A country is not a great tennis country with only one guy succeeding. So now, we’re getting closer and closer and hopefully I’ll be in all the main draws of the Grand Slams as well. I want to be right there competing with the top guys. I think it’s great for the country and to have a support group behind me. It’s also awesome that I can inspire the younger kids and upcoming juniors that they can also achieve that. That’s what we’re looking for.

What have they said to you over the past couple of years, to help you reach this point where you are now?
It’s just advice on the tour and how to manage your schedule. I didn’t have much experience with that stuff and playing a lot of Futures. Just a Challenger here and there. Going through their situations and how they eventually reached the top, translated well for me and I found some inspiration from that.

How do you celebrate a win like this?
I’ll have a small celebration, because you need to feel good about the win and that you’ve achieved something. Then it’s all focus again and getting used to the conditions in Fairfield. I need to mentally shift to the next one. 

Novak Djokovic begins his quest for a record fourth Rolex Shanghai Masters championship when he meets familiar foe Jeremy Chardy on Tuesday. Djokovic is 11-0 in matches and 26-0 in sets against Chardy, including a 7-6(5), 6-4 win in the London/Queen’s Club semi-finals on 23 June. The World No. 3 would pass Roger Federer for No. 2 in the ATP Rankings by reaching Sunday’s final, among other scenarios. With each victory this week, Djokovic will also gain ground on Rafael Nadal in the ATP Race to London, which ultimately determines who finishes 2018 as the World No. 1.

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following match-ups at the Rolex Shanghai Masters and vote for the players you think will win!
Djokovic v Chardy | Shapovalov v Basilashvili | Cilic v Jarry

Joining Djokovic on Center Court is Beijing champion Nikoloz Basilashvili, who for the second time meets #NextGenATP superstar Denis Shapovalov. Basilashvili defeated Shapovalov 6-2, 6-4 in the Budapest second round on 26 April. The Georgian went on to reach the US Open fourth round in between ATP World Tour 500 titles at Hamburg and Beijing. Basilashvili is 15-5 overall and 5-2 against Top 20 opponents since qualifying for Hamburg on 22 July. He is ranked a career-high No. 23 after posting the biggest victory of his career on Sunday over No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro.

Like Basilashvili, Daniil Medvedev is only two days removed from capturing an ATP World Tour 500 title. Medvedev is ranked a career-high No. 22 after defeating two-time champion and local hero Kei Nishikori for the Tokyo title. The 22-year-old Russian is 3-0 in finals this season with all three wins over players competing in their home country. He beat Alex de Minaur for the Sydney title and Steve Johnson for the Winston-Salem title. On Tuesday, Medvedev meets Chinese wild card Ze Zhang, who owns an 0-8 record in main draw matches at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

Yibing Wu, China’s top young male player, won his first ATP World Tour match on Monday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. The 18-year-old beat countryman and fellow wild card Zhe Li 7-6(5), 6-2 at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event.

“I am very happy to win my first match in ATP World Tour. This is definitely my best performance in the past couple months,” Wu said. “Li Zhe was playing well from the beginning, putting me in very stressful situations. But I still managed to turn this around. So I am very pleased about it.”

The 2017 US Open junior boys’ champion had been 0-5 in ATP World Tour matches, including recent back-to-back losses at the Chengdu Open in Chengdu and the China Open in Beijing. He will next meet eighth seed Kei Nishikori, Asia’s biggest male tennis star, who reached the final of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2018 on Sunday (l. to Medvedev).

View Shanghai Draw

“I am very excited to have a chance to play Nishikori next round,” Wu said. “[Playing] against a top player like Kei is something I always look forward to. As a younger player, I have nothing to lose. Just hoping that I can bring out my best to this match.”

In the beginning of the 2018 season, few, perhaps even Novak Djokovic himself, would have thought the Serbian would be vying to take over the top spot in the ATP Race To London in October.

Djokovic lost to Taro Daniel of Japan and Frenchman Benoit Paire in back-to-back hard-court tournaments in March (Indian Wells, Miami). The Serbian began 2018 with a 6-6 record.

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following match-ups at the Rolex Shanghai Masters and vote for the players you think will win!
Djokovic v Chardy | Shapovalov v Basilashvili | Cilic v Jarry

Yet if Djokovic wins his fourth Rolex Shanghai Masters title this week, he will be within 35 points of claiming the top spot in the Race from Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who’s still nursing a knee injury that forced him to withdraw from his US Open semi-final.

“I am really glad that I put myself in a position to compete for No. 1 of the world. And maybe four, five months ago, that was looking a little bit far from reach, but with the recent results, I put myself in a pretty decent position to fight for No. 1, year-end No. 1, which of course is always one of the ultimate goals that you have as a professional tennis player,” Djokovic said.

The Serbian has won 13 consecutive matches, dating back to his Western & Southern Open title in Cincinnati, where he achieved his Career Golden Masters, and at the US Open, where he won his 14^th Grand Slam, tying Pete Sampras for third place on the all-time list.

He currently has 6,445 points in the Race, and with another 1,000 from winning Shanghai, Djokovic could have 7,445, just 35 from Nadal’s 7,4580. Djokovic faces Jeremy Chardy on Tuesday. The Serbian leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 11-0.

See Who’s Chasing Rafa, Novak In The ATP Race To London

“He’s a great guy. I get along very well with him,” Djokovic said. “I think what I did well in the past in our matchups, I managed to neutralise his first serve, and I think also take advantage of his second serve and try to be consistent on my service games, move him around the court, because he’s not the best mover forward, backwards, so I try to expose his weaknesses, in a way, look for the backhand, but obviously his forehand is lethal if he gets the good rhythm on it.

“So I will try to approach things and execute hopefully tactically well.”

Borna Coric withstood the power of Swiss wild card Stan Wawrinka, who continues to grow in confidence on his comeback from knee surgery, for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 first-round victory in just under two hours on Monday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

Coric, the No. 13 seed from Croatia, saved two break points at 3-3 in the second set and won three of the first four games in the decider to complete his 32nd match win of the season, which includes the Gerry Weber Open in Halle (d. Federer) — his second ATP World Tour crown. It was Coric’s first victory in his fourth meeting against former World No. 3 Wawrinka.

The 21-year-old will next challenge American qualifier Bradley Klahn, who has qualified for his third straight ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament and held his nerve to beat Australian Nick Kyrgios.

World No. 93 Klahn recorded just his fourth tour-level win of the year over Kyrgios 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in 78 minutes, winning five straight games from 4-4 in the second set to 3-0 in the decider. Klahn won 82 per cent of his first-service points and struck 18 aces, with Kyrgios hitting 14 aces and five double faults.

Elsewhere, in one of the final matches of the day, Andreas Seppi defeated Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-4 in 83 minutes. He awaits the winner of 11th-seeded Briton Kyle Edmund and Filip Krajinovic of Serbia. In an all-Chinese matchup, Yibing Wu beat Zhe Li 7-6(5), 6-2.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, who last week qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals in November, lived to fight another day on Monday when the 10th-seeded #NextGenATP star worked his way past France’s Gael Monfils at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. The 20-year-old Greek triumphed 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 in two hours and 22 minutes for a second-round meeting against Russia’s Karen Khachanov.

Tsitsipas saved three set points on serve at 5-6 in the first set, prior to winning the first six points of the tie-break, and later broke Monfils in the eighth game of the decider in their first FedEx ATP Head2Head clash. Former World No. 6 Monfils responded immediately to get back to 4-5, but then dropped to 15/40 and served his fifth double fault of the match to hand Tsitsipas his 34th victory of the season (34-24).

Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, the 2016 finalist (l. to Murray), knocked out #NextGenATP Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-3, 6-4 to improve to a 29-17 record on the season, which includes the ASB Classic (d. Del Potro) and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (d. Pouille). Bautista Agut will next face American qualifier Mackenzie McDonald, a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victor over Canadian No. 14 seed Milos Raonic. Rublev is currently in seventh position in the ATP Race To Milan for a spot at the Next Gen ATP Finals in November. 

Former World No. 11 Sam Querrey struck 14 aces and lost five of his first-service points (34/39) for a 66-minute victory over ninth-seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who had won their past two matches. Querrey now faces fellow American Taylor Fritz, who was also impressive on serve – with 14 aces and 40 of 48 first-service points won – in a 6-3, 7-6(3) win over the experienced Dutchman Robin Haase in 81 minutes. Fritz, in sixth position in the #NextGenATP battle for a Milan spot, reached the BNP Paribas Open fourth round (l. to Coric) in March.

Elsewhere, Australia’s Matthew Ebden defeated fifth-placed #NextGenATP Frances Tiafoe 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 50 minutes and will now challenge sixth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem, who is a contender for a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in November.