Manx tennis ace Billy Harris claimed a fifth-place finish in week two of the UK Pro League to continue his consistent start to the season.

Harris, the British number 20, was a runner-up in Loughborough at the end of the opening week but beat Jack Findel-Hawkins 6-4 6-4 in week two’s fifth/sixth-place play-off to scoop a valuable eight ranking points.

The Isle of Man-raised player had gone down to Joshua Paris in straight sets at the final hurdle earlier this month, but delivered another impressive showing at the Dan Maskell Tennis Centre.

Harris, who was born in Nottingham before moving to the Isle of Man when he was four, finished third in Pool A during the round-robin format after picking up three wins from five matches.

He toppled Julian Cash, Alexis Canter and George Houghton but was unable to get past eventual week two winner Anton Matusevich and Dan Cox, who occupied the pool’s top two places.

Harris, 26, then beat Oscar Weightman 6-2 6-4 in Saturday’s play-off to book his place in Sunday’s contest for fifth and sixth place.

And he breezed past Findel-Hawkins to further his haul of ranking points and take his overall tally to 23 after two events.

The innovative UK Pro League is the brainchild of Jamie Delgado - Andy Murray’s coach - and brings together the country’s top professional tennis players across nine separate weeks from March to November.

The season-long competition involves players competing in a round-robin format in eight individual qualifying weeks, with the weekend play-offs then giving them the opportunity to accumulate ranking points to seal qualification for November’s finals week.

Harris also competed at the inaugural UK Pro League last year, where he memorably played a marathon 42 matches in 42 days and qualified for the prestigious Classic Week in Weybridge.

He lost against Cash in the fifth/sixth place play-off in that event before going on to hit the national headlines over Christmas when he was marooned in Antalya, Turkey owing to coronavirus restrictions.

Harris was competing in a ’Futures’ tournament where he won his quarter-final on Christmas Day to help him reach the first final of his professional career.

His hopes of a trophy were dashed by Ukraine’s Georgii Kravchenko but Harris has now turned his attention back to the English season in Loughborough.

Harris will next compete at week three of the UK Pro League which is scheduled to get underway on April 5.

l With a prize fund of around £500,000 and broadcast live on BT Sport, the UK Pro League is the only place where the British player group come together to compete across the full year.