Billy Harris is in the middle of a career-defining run on the grass this summer and is determined to kick on after his run at Queen’s came to an end.
The 29-year-old Nottingham-born tennis player was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the cinch Championships, losing 6-3 7-5 to highly-rated Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
Harris has now enjoyed good runs at three successive tournaments on grass, earning himself a wild card for the main draw at Wimbledon where he will make his Grand Slam debut.
And while there was understandable disappointment at losing to Musetti, Harris is keen to learn the lessons from these recent runs.
He said: “I’m obviously very disappointed to lose the match. Lorenzo, fair play to him, he played a good match.
“It was a very different match to yesterday (victory over Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard). Long rallies, he got every ball back and worked the court very well.
“There was a different pressure in the match compared to the short points yesterday.
“It’s been a great week overall. I’m grateful for the wild card and tried to make the most of it.
“I got two great wins and I’m very happy with the wins. And then today lost to a very good player.”
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Harris’ performances have been rewarded with a wild card to play at Eastbourne next week, while LTA Head of Men’s Tennis Leon Smith was complimentary of the performances which have seen him climb from outside the world’s top 300 into the top 150 next week.
And with more chances to play against some of the game’s best players, the biggest eye-opener has been the level of consistency required game to game.
He added: “Against these guys, you can’t have any lapses of concentration because they will take advantage of that. You have to be switched on the whole match and play your game to the highest level you can play basically. Any little slips in focus or loose games and you get punished. It can only help having played these matches.
“I’m probably still quite a lot of points away from main draw US Open but every match I am playing at this level, I am learning things and feeling more comfortable playing these guys. There is no reason why I can’t keep winning some matches at this level.”
For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website
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