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NEW YORK Seminole juniors Benjamin Lock of Zimbabwe and Michael Rinaldi were named to the All-ACC Men’s Tennis team on Monday in a vote by league coaches. The second-team honour for the Zimbabwe Davis Cup team player Lock and third-team honour for Rinaldi are the first such distinctions for each player in their Seminole careers.

“I’m really pleased to have Ben and Michael make the All-ACC team,” head coach Dwayne Hultquist said. “They both had outstanding seasons and it’s a great honour to be recognised with how tough the ACC competition is.”

Lock from Harare in Zimbabwe was the Seminoles top player in singles and doubles throughout the year and has compiled a 41-18 combined record through the ACC Tournament.

He rose to a career-high 44th in the ITA poll after wins in the final weekend of the regular season against players ranked No 20 and No 38.
In singles, Lock has beaten six players currently ranked in the ITA poll, including four-time All-ACC pick Mitchell Frank from Virginia. The win over Frank, a former No. 1 in the singles poll, was the only loss for Frank in ACC play in his career.

In doubles, playing with junior Marco Nunez, Lock rose as high as No. 13 in the spring.

The two joined together to finish with a 21-8 record overall and 14-6 in the spring heading into the NCAA Tournament. At the ACC Championships on Friday, Lock and Nunez recorded their highest ranked win as a pair, beating Virginia’s Luca Corinteli and Ryan Shane in knocking off the No. 2 doubles pair in the country.

They also have wins over ranked teams from Notre Dame, Dartmouth, Clemson, Texas, Florida, and TCU.

Outside of collegiate play, Lock represented his home country of Zimbabwe in the Davis Cup and helped Team Zimbabwe reach the Group II Europe/Africa stage for the first time since 2006.

Lock also won the US Futures doubles title in Niceville, Florida in November with former Seminole Jean-Yves Aubone for his first professional title.
Rinaldi of Palm City in Florida overcame missing the fall season with a wrist injury to become nationally ranked for the first time in his career, rising to No. 79 in March.

Aiding that rise in the polls was wins over ranked players from Denver, Louisville, Texas, and North Carolina State. Rinaldi finished the season 12-8 in singles play, split between Courts 2 and 3. — Tennis World