The Sunday News
Sports Reporter
COURTNEY Lock is likely not to have had a wink of sleep last night.
This is because he carries Zimbabwe’s Davis Cup hopes on his shoulders when play resumes between the 26-year-old and Uruguay’s Ignacio Carou at Harare Sports Club after yesterday’s rain-induced stoppage with the home team on the brink.
With the scores tied at two wins apiece, the younger of the Lock brothers finds himself down a set and on the brink of a break early in the second set. Carou and Lock will resume their dual at Harare Sports Club this morning. Play starts at 11am.
Ignacio Carou
The two teams went into yesterday’s action with the scores even, but Zimbabwe got off to the worst possible start as Benjamin Lock and Courtney Lock lost their doubles match 2-6, 4-6 to the South American pairing of Martin Cuevas and Ariel Behar.
The Lock brothers started well in the match, maintaining their serve and coming close to breaking their opponents a couple of times in the opening set. Unfortunately, that did not last long as the South Americans finally found their opening and broke both the Locks back-to-back in the fifth and seventh games to take the set 6-2.
It only got worse in the second set, which turned into a one-sided affair as Cuevas and Behar again broke the Zimbabwean pair in the third game and maintained their serve to take the set 6-4 and the match 6-2, 6-4.
Much like he did during the opening game, Benjamin Lock was on hand to rescue the tie.
Martin Cuevas
The older Lock sibling, Benjamin, restored parity when he eased past Uruguay’s top seed Cuevas 6-4, 6-4, and avenged his younger brother who lost to the number 464 world ranked player. This left the tie between the two nations tied again, this time at two wins apiece.
Enter Courtney Lock.
The 26-year-old is subbing for an injured Mehluli Sibanda and had to fight through a slight illness during the first day of the contest. It did not get better. The younger Lock lost his serve in the sixth game of the opening set of his match against Carou who then held on to take the set 6-3.
Both players had won their opening games of the second, but the Zimbabwean soon found himself on the brink of another break in the third game. The heavens then opened up and play was then stopped with the Zimbabwean trailing. Should he lose the match against Carou today, Zimbabwe will need to play in the relegation play-off to retain their place in the World Group ll.
