US Open 2020: David Goffin vs Lloyd Harris preview, head-to-head & prediction
Match details
Fixture: David Goffin vs Lloyd Harris
Date: 2 September 2020
Tournament: US Open 2020
Round: Second round (Round of 64)
Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York, USA
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Outdoor hardcourt
Prize money: $39,024,000
Match timing: 12.30 pm EDT, 10 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel / ESPN | India - Star Sports / Hotstar
David Goffin vs Lloyd Harris preview
David Goffin continues his campaign at the 2020 US Open with a match against South Africa's Lloyd Harris for a place in the third round.
Earlier in the season, the diminutive Belgian won three of his four matches at the inaugural ATP Cup but made a third-round exit at the Australian Open where he lost to Andrey Rublev.
The world number ten then made the semifinals in Montpellier before making a pair of early exits at his next two stops in Rotterdam and Marseille before the COVID-19 outbreak forced the suspension of the tour.
In his first competitive outing in over six months, David Goffin beat Borna Coric in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters but lost to Jan-Lennard Struff in three sets in the next round.
At the US Open this year, the 2019 Wimbledon quarterfinalist would look to emulate, or perhaps better, his run to the fourth round last year where he won just four games in a lopsided defeat to Roger Federer.
Lloyd Harris, meanwhile, notched up only his second ever Grand Slam match win when he beat 2018 Roland Garros semifinalist Marco Cecchinato in the first round on Monday.
Earlier in the season, the 95th-ranked South African emerged from qualifying to make his maiden career singles final at the inaugural Adelaide Open where he went down to Andrey Rublev.
David Goffin vs Lloyd Harris head-to-head
David Goffin has never met Lloyd Harris in a competitive meeting on the tour, so their head-to-head rivalry stands at 0-0.
David Goffin vs Lloyd Harris prediction
Since his debut at the US Open in 2012 when he fell in the opening round, David Goffin has made it past the second round in five of his next seven appearances at the tournament.
It is a run that includes successive forays to the Round of 16 in 2018 (lost to Marin Cilic) and 2019 (lost to Roger Federer). In fact, David Goffin hasn't fallen at this stage of a Grand Slam tournament in his last six appearances since enduring a first-round exit at 2018 Wimbledon.
There is a significant gulf in the pedigree and big-stage experience of both players. While Goffin has 55 match wins to his name in Majors, his second-round opponent Lloyd Harris' tally reads just two.
On paper, the pair's clash is a mismatch. While Harris could pose a problem or two to Goffin with his big serves, the Belgian should have enough in his arsenal to book his berth in the third-round.
Prediction: David Goffin to win in four sets.