THERE were mixed fortunes for local tennis players on the opening day of the second Old Mutual-sponsored Zimbabwe F2 Futures tournament at Harare Sports Club yesterday with only Benjamin Lock progressing past the opening round in singles draw.
BY SPORTS REPORTER
Lock, who reached the semi-finals in the first tournament last week, played a good solid game against Anderson Reed of the United States, bouncing back from a set down to win 6-7, 6-3, 6-2.
The win sets up a second round contest against South Africa’s unseeded player Philip Franken, who beat Zimbabwe’s wild card entry Brandon Levendale 6-2, 6-4.
US-based Zimbabwean player Mbonisi Ndimande also made a first round exit as he was roundly beaten 6-2, 6-1 in straight sets by the tournament’s second seed Nicolas Scholtz from South Africa.
In other first round matches played yesterday, Argentina’s Julian Busch beat his compatriot Castro Matias 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to progress to the second round where he faces a tough encounter against Scholtz.
Meanwhile, Courtney Lock will be aiming to join his brother in the second round when he takes on France’s Ronan Joncour in a first round encounter today while South Arica’s Davis Cup player Vorster Tucker squares off against Uganda’s Duncan Mugabe.
