THE Citi Open has continued today with plenty of intriguing results playing out and seeing the top two seeds – Rafael Nadal and Felix Auger-Aliassime – fall in the third round. Overall it was a shaky day for seeds, with just three making it through the the quarter finals and just one within the top five.

It was Lloyd Harris who claimed a huge scalp of Nadal, collecting the biggest win of his career in the process. While the champion Spaniard appeared to get off to a solid start in yesterday’s Round of 32, Harris was relentless on serve piling on 16 aces to Nadal’s eight and winning valuable points when it mattered most to claim the 6-4 1-6 6-4 victory.

“I did a lot of good things. I think the best thing was to stay in the moment, keep my composure, and I think I just stayed with my game and stayed playing a consistently good level throughout the match,” Harris said. “It was a good, quality match, I think. Not easy for me out there. It was pretty physical, bull all in all, I’m just super happy with how everything turned out.”

Requiring two hours and 11 minutes to claim the upset, the South African was composed under pressure, and despite Nadal actually winning more overall points, did enough to secure the victory with his excellent second half to the opening set. Despite the crowd well and truly being behind Nadal, Harris willed his way back into the contest after a shaky second set to claim the win.

“Today was really special. I think I have had some big wins, and this year I have beat some Grand Slam champions,” Harris said. “But to beat a 20-time Grand Slam champion, and especially in front of a full crowd and with such an amazing atmosphere, it was definitely something very special.”

Nadal commended Harris for his game and efforts, telling media post-match that he “played against a player that played well” and that the foot injury he has battled since the 2021 Roland Garros continues to improve.

“You can’t have mistakes in the key moments, and in the key moments I think in the last game, I was a little bit more nervous. My serve was not working the proper way,” Nadal said. “That’s it. Yes, well done for him. It’s a great victory for him. I wish him all the very best.”

“The most positive thing is my foot was better today than yesterday, so that’s the best news possible,” Nadal said. “I played against a player that played well. For the moment, I think I played better than yesterday, but in the third when I had opportunities, the truth is his serve was huge and I played this last game really badly.”

“I was able to move a bit better, so that is very important, especially for me personally, to keep enjoying the sport and keep having energy, believing that important things are possible,” Nadal said. “And then I need to keep improving. It’s true. I honestly didn’t have two easy months. I had a lot of problems with my foot. I was not able to practise all the days that I really wanted, but I did as much as I could and I tried hard here.”

Four Americans remain in the draw at Washington, with wildcard Jenson Brooksby – who overcame Auger-Aliassime 6-3 6-4 – joined by Denis Kudla, Mackenzie McDonald and Steve Johnson, with the latter claiming the quickest win of the day via a 63-minute 6-2 6-1 sweep of Ricardas Berankis. Brooksby has managed some excellent wins over the past few weeks, with this one over Canadian Auger-Aliassime one for the books.

“I have definitely gotten mentally tougher this year, and it’s only kept improving. I just really love, truly love playing on these stages,” Brooksby said. “No opponent will faze me. I can compete with anyone. This was definitely a very good match today for me. “I stayed really focused throughout. I didn’t really have any lapses in my strategy or mentally. I’m happy with that match.”

Brooksby won 81 per cent of his first serve points and backed that effort up with a 76 per cent win rate off his second serve, outclassing the Canadian who failed to hit an ace throughout. The remaining three matches saw individuals from three separate nations claim wins, with fifth seed Jannik Sinner and 11th seed John Millman both claiming straight sets victories over another two seeded Americans, as Kei Nishikori upset seventh seed Brit Cameron Norrie in a come from behind three-setter.

CITI OPEN ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

[14] Lloyd Harris (RSA) defeated [1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6-4 1-6 6-4
[WC] Jenson Brooksby (USA) defeated [2] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 6-3 6-4
[5] Jannik Sinner (ITA) defeated [12] Sebastian Korda (USA) 7-6 7-6
Kei Nishikori (JPN) defeated [7] Cameron Norrie (GBR) 3-6 6-3 6-3
[11] John Millman (AUS) defeated [8] Reilly Opelka (USA) 6-3 7-6
Denis Kudla (USA) defeated [WC] Brandon Nakashima (USA) 3-6 7-6 6-4
Mackenzie McDonald (USA) defeated Ilya Ivashka (BLR) 6-4 6-4
Steve Johnson (USA) defeated Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 6-2 6-1

Picture credit: Michael Blackshire/The Washington Post