Harris Wins First Qualifier at Aussie Open

He had another great match in the first round of qualies at the Australian Open. We are proud of his effort and are looking forward to watching his next match.
Head Coach John Roddick

MELBOURNE, Australia – Oklahoma men's tennis player Andrew Harris continued his phenomenal play in Australia with another top-200 win on Wednesday. The sophomore advanced to the second round of qualifying at the Australian Open in his hometown of Melbourne and needs just two more wins to secure a place in the 128-player main draw.

Harris, who is up to No. 497 in the world after last week's wins at the ATP Happy Valley Challenger, defeated world No. 197 Jesse Huta Galung of the Netherlands in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (7) in round one of the qualifying draw.

“Andrew is playing very well down in Australia,” Oklahoma head coach John Roddick said. “He had another great match in the first round of qualies at the Australian Open. We are proud of his effort and are looking forward to watching his next match.”

Harris took the first set on the back of a 30-23 advantage in points won. Both players hit seven winners in the first set, but Galung committed 19 unforced errors to Harris's 11. Harris took two breaks in the set and gave up none.

Very little separated the pair in the second set. Both players hit 14 winners and both won a break. Galung committed 25 unforced errors, but Harris had 22 of his own. Harris found an advantage in the service game, putting 63 percent of his first serves in to just 47 percent from Galung. Harris eventually outlasted the Dutchman in the tiebreaker, 9-7, to take the set and match.

Harris will face Andreas Beck of Germany, Thursday at 5 p.m. CT in the second round of qualifying. Beck is currently ranked 113^th in the world. Beck made main draw appearances at both Roland Garros and the U.S. Open in 2014.

The win extends an impressive run through his home country for Harris. Last week he won six matches at the ATP Happy Valley Challenger in Onkaparinga, Australia to advance to the semifinals round. Harris toppled players ranked 187, 143 and 86 in the world before falling to 82^nd ranked Marcos Baghdatis.

As a freshman last season, Harris split time at No. 3 and No. 4 singles for the Sooners and racked up an impressive 20-5 record in singles. Harris begins the 2015 season ranked 20^th in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

The Australian Open is one of four Grand Slam events in professional tennis and is held annually over the last fortnight in January. The event is one of the most prestigious in all of tennis and attracts the world's elite players. Last year more than 640,00 patrons attended the event. Harris can compete in the event as an amateur and retain his NCAA eligibility.

For complete information on the 2015 Australian Open, including draws, stats and live scoring, click here.

For more information on OU Men's Tennis, follow the team on Twitter at @OU_MTennis.