South African doubles pair knocked out of Australian Open

The South Africans showed glimpses of brilliance against Spaniard Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, but were ultimately outplayed 6-1, 7-6(4) on the hard courts of Melbourne Park.

After being dominated in the opening set, Harris and Klassen rallied late in the second set. But Granollers and Zeballos remained resolute, saving four set points to force a tiebreaker which they controlled on the way to victory.

"They were more solid and took the match to us," said Harris as per News24.

"They were serving well and we weren't making many returns. We did a good job to come back, we came close, we had some opportunities, and we fought hard."

The doubles duo earned close to R780 000 as third-round losers.