Van Man: Five things to know about Billy Harris

In a big day for British tennis at the Cinch Championships, 29-year-old Billy Harris followed Jack Draper‘s upset of Carlos Alcaraz with a milestone result of his own at The Queen’s Club. Behind a 6-4, 7-5 win against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, the English journeyman advanced to his first tour-level quarter-final in London.

Before he bids for his third win of the week on Friday, ATPTour.com brings you five things to know about the No. 162 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

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Harris spent three and a half years travelling between tournaments in a van
Earlier in his career, Harris often travelled around Europe in a converted transit van to save money while competing primarily on the ITF World Tennis Tour — one step below the ATP Challenger Tour. In addition to driving from city to city in the van, Harris also used it for lodging.

“I was travelling around in my transit van for three and a half years, with a bed in the back, cooking on the roadside and parking up in McDonald’s car parks,” he said, as quoted in a 2023 BBC story. Harris owns five ITF singles titles, winning four in 2021 and one in 2022.

He picked up his first tour-level win last November in Sofia
Harris beat Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5) two months before his 29th birthday to record his first tour-level singles win. The ATP 250 was his only previous tour-level event before his appearance this week in London. He has tripled his career win total by reaching the Queen’s quarters, improving to 3-1.

He has been a hitting partner for the British Davis Cup team
Harris was on hand for Great Britain’s journey to the Davis Cup Finals in 2023, practising with the likes of Andy Murray, Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans and Draper. After his victory against Mpetshi Perricard on Thursday, he praised Draper for his rapid rise and his upset of Alcaraz.

“Amazing from Jack,” Harris said. “He’s the future of British tennis and he’s leading the way. It’s great to look at him and see what he’s doing. I definitely take inspiration from that.”

His father, Geoff, is his coach… though he does not have a big tennis background
Geoff Harris is his son’s lead coach, alongside support from British Davis Cup captain Leon Smith.

“He got me into tennis. He was always feeding me lots of balls when I first started, but he hasn’t really got a tennis background,” Harris said in his post-match presser Thursday. “He can knock a few balls over the net, but that’s about it really.

“He’s obviously watched almost every match I have played, so he knows my game very well. He just gives me little reminders of what I’m working on and supports me every week, just the support and the team around me that just give me an extra little bit in the matches.

Harris is set for the Top 150 in the PIF ATP Rankings
Having entered Queen’s at a career-high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 162 behind consecutive semi-final runs on the ATP Challenger Tour (Nottingham, Surbiton), Harris has soared 24 places this week to No. 138 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, a mark that would surpass his junior career high of No. 139. On Tuesday, Harris secured the best win of his career by PIF ATP Ranking by beating World No. 32 Tomas Martin Etcheverry in three sets.

Harris’ recent success has also helped him earn a wild card for Wimbledon, where he will make his Grand Slam debut in July.

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