ZIMBABWE’S top junior female tennis player Nicole Dzenga made an early exit in the girls’ singles main draw of the SAS Junior ITF 1 tournament underway in Stellenbosch, South Africa, after the third seed lost in straight sets to a South African opponent on Monday.
DANIEL NHAKANISO
Dzenga (16), one of the pre-tournament favourites lost 6-3, 7-6 (6) to the unseeded Nicole Petchey to bow out of contention at the first hurdle.
Petchey, who is ranked 1 315 on the junior world rankings and a massive 995 places below Dzenga (324), got off to a dream start as she easily wrapped up the first set 6-3.
Dzenga mounted a strong comeback in the second set which went all the way to a tie breaker, but the damage had already been done as Petchey held on for a memorable win.
Meanwhile, United States-based Zimbabwean tennis player Benjamin Lock and his playing partner Marco Nunez posted their third upset to reach the final of the ITA Southeast Regional Championships in Atlanta Georgia on Monday evening.
The Florida State University pair, who have only played doubles together for a semester qualified for the final after they won over Elliott Orkin and Gordon Watson of the University of Florida in the semi-final.
“Marco and I played really solid today,” Lock told Florida State University website. “Marco served great and played well on the big points. I’m happy with our success today, but we want to take this whole thing.”
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Last night, Lock and Nunez were expected to take on Oliver Pramming and Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz of USF in the final.
The doubles champion of the tournament advances to the USTA/ITA National Collegiate Indoor Championships running from November 7-11 at the Billie Jean National Tennis Center in New York.
