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Confident Lock ready for Davis Cup playoff

Sport
ZIMBABWE tennis player Benjamin Lock believes his maiden singles triumph on the ITF Futures Circuit should give him a lot of confidence ahead of the country’s Davis Cup Euro Africa Group II relegation playoff tie against Moldova next month.

ZIMBABWE tennis player Benjamin Lock believes his maiden singles triumph on the ITF Futures Circuit should give him a lot of confidence ahead of the country’s Davis Cup Euro Africa Group II relegation playoff tie against Moldova next month.

BY DANIEL NHAKANISO

Lock won the Mozambique F1 Futures Singles Championship on Sunday — the first professional singles title of his career and second overall after his success in the doubles last year.

Reflecting on a roller-coaster week in which he won five matches in seven days, including an upset over the tournament’s number one seed, Lock said he was delighted to have finally accomplished one of his goals to become a winner on the circuit.

“It feels great to have accomplished something you dream about doing from a very young age,” Lock told NewsDay Sport yesterday.

“It has been a great week for me and I would like to thank my brother and doubles partner Courtney Lock for his support. I would also like to dedicate this title to the memory of my grandmother, Rita Martin, for the amazing lady that she was and for all her input into my tennis,” he said.

Lock was immediately recognised for his recent good form after being named in an unchanged Zimbabwe Davis Cup side to play Moldova in the Davis Cup Euro Africa Group II relegation playoff match from July 17-19 in the capital.

The other members of the team are Takanyi Garanganga, Mark Fynn, Wayne Black and Tinotenda Chanakiral while Martin Dzuwa is the non-playing captain.

Lock, who played at the prestigious NCAA Individual Championships in the United States last month, said the Davis Cup tie could not have come at a better time for him as he has been playing some brilliant tennis.

“I have been playing some good tennis for a while now and just needed some breakthrough wins which I got this week. Tennis is a confidence game and this win gives me a huge amount of it because the players that I have beaten are going to be on a similar level to the players from Moldova,” he said.

“I love playing in Africa and especially at home in Zimbabwe. So I see these tournaments as preparation for the big tie in July. I like to keep my goals short term, but from now until the end the year, I just want to continue working on my game and getting better each day and let the results come on their own. The most important fixture of the year to me will be the Davis Cup and I cannot wait to get back with the team and start preparing for that.”