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Brandon Moyo, [email protected]

ZIMBABWEAN tennis star, Benjamin Lock continued with his impressive form on the international stage, winning back-to-back the Addis Ababa Challenger in Ethiopia on Sunday.

The 30-year-old beat Rishab Agarwal from India in the final, to claim his second victory in two weeks on the Horn of Africa. He won Sunday’s final 2-0.

Looking to complete the double in Ethiopia, Lock won the final with set scores of 6-2 and 6-2 to fly the Zimbabwean flag up high. In the first set, Lock controlled most of the proceedings despite losing the first game.

Lock levelled things up to make it 1-1 before going on to win the next four games, leaving the set at 5-1. Agarwal brought one back, making it 5-2 but the inform Zimbabwean ace did not hold back on the clay surface and went on to win another game, making it 6-2, thus taking a 1-0 lead in the match.

In the second set, Lock won a closely contested tie after taking a 2-0 lead in the first two games. Agarwal fought back in the third game to make it 2-1 before Lock restored his two-game deficit, making it 3-1 in the fourth game. In the last three games, the 27-year old Indian pulled one back to leave the scores at 3-2, but Lock went on to win the other two games, making it 6-2 again and winning the match 2-0, to complete a double.

Last week, Lock edged 21-year-old Eric Vanshelboim from Ukraine 2-0 to win the first leg of the Addis Ababa Challenger. He won the final with set scores of 7-5 and 6-2 and the tournament was also played on a clay surface like the second one. 

In the first leg’s semi-final, he beat Alec Beckley from South Africa 2-0 with set scores of 6-2 and 6-2. 

Tennis courts

On the road to Sunday’s second leg final, Lock beat another Indian international, S D Prajwal Dev in the semi-finals. He came from one set down to win the match 2-1 after set scores of 3-6, 6-4 and 6-2. In the quarter finals, he beat Sina Moghimi from Iran 2-0 with identical set scores of 6-2 and 6-2.

The win on Sunday rounded up an impressive run on the court for the Zimbabwean international who was coming from an early exit in the Kursumlijska Banja Challenger in Serbia. Challenger tours are administered by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

The events are the second highest tier of tennis competition behind the ATP Tour. Players who perform well on the ATP Challenger Tours earn sufficient ranking points to become eligible for main draw or qualifying draw entry at ATP Tour tournaments. 

— @brandon_malvin