Lajovic Wins, Giving Djokovic Chance To Clinch vs. Anderson

Your turn, Novak Djokovic.

Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic beat South Africa’s Lloyd Harris 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 on Saturday night in Brisbane, giving Djokovic the opportunity to clinch their ATP Cup tie against Kevin Anderson.

Lajovic was broken twice in the opening set but steadied himself in the second set of his first match of the season, increasingly passing the 6’6″ Harris and troubling him at net. Lajovic thrived off the Serbian support inside Pat Rafter Arena and broke twice in the final set.

Harris finished 2019 at a career-best year-end FedEx ATP Ranking of No. 99 and will take plenty from his three-set tangle with Lajovic, last year’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters finalist (l. to Fognini), as South Africa progresses at the inaugural 24-team event, which is being held in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.

Djokovic, the World No. 2, leads his ATP Head2Head series against Anderson 8-2, including three of four times they played in 2018. The 33-year-old Anderson was limited to only five tournaments in 2019 because of injuries (right elbow, right knee) and underwent season-ending knee surgery in September. He last played in July in the third round of Wimbledon.

Djokovic, meanwhile, earned 50-plus wins and finished inside the Top 3 for the 12th time in the past 13 seasons (2007-16, 2018-19).