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Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Davis Cup tennis team number one player Benjamin Lock will be the first on the court when he plays against El Salvador’s Lluis Miralles in the World Group II play-offs at Harare Sports Club this morning.
The match is set to start at 11am.
Mehluli Sibanda will then take on El Salvador’s top player Marcelo Arevalo in the second singles match. Tomorrow, the Lock brothers — Benjamin and Courtney — will then team-up for the crucial doubles tie against the El Salvador pair of Miralles and Arevalo.
The Zimbabwe Davis Cup team captain, Gwinyai Tongoona, said they are in the frame to play some good tennis and progress to the 2022 World Group II ties.
The 12 winning nations from the World Group II play-offs advance while the 12 losing nations will compete in regional Group III later this year.
“We have been playing well and I think we are ready. I think the draw came out the way we wanted it to come out. Benjie wanted to play first, so we are looking forward to playing tomorrow (this morning), we are looking forward to competing, and hopefully, the fans are able to come and watch and see some good tennis,” said Tongoona. Tongoona says their aim is to win the first singles match and also push for a victory in the doubles tomorrow.
“I think we want to see who can get ahead early, if Benjie can win the first singles match and we lead one love, it could put a little bit of pressure on El Salvador, and then from there we have to compete for each and every match.
“I think it is going to be tough against Marcelo he is a good player, so Mehluli has a lot of biting to do to pull through. Hopefully, both boys can pull through, and also obviously the doubles they are going to be strong on doubles, for example, if it’s 1-1 after the singles, we really need to win the doubles, to keep the pressure on El Salvador,” said Tongoona. Sibanda’s younger brother, Ethan, is the fourth member of the Zimbabwean team. Ethan came in for Thabo Ncube, who was part of the team that played Tunisia last November in the World Cup Group II knock-outs in Tunis and lost. It is his second time in the team as part of the Tennis Zimbabwe youth development strategic plan to expose young players.
Tongoona says the young players are the future.
“It is always good to have one of the youngsters in the team, for them to be in that environment where they are training hard for the week, and also are close to the action, when the matches are being played, and they get to see that fighting spirit and develop that team spirit and bond with the team because as the players get older, some will probably retire at some stage, and they will fill in and be the main players, so we need to have juniors in training, in the camp, and also if they get a chance to play it would be better for them,” said Tongoona.
On paper, Zimbabwe are coming in as the favourites, ranked number 63 in the world while El Salvador are ranked 67. However, in tennis, anything can happen and the hosts have to be on top of their game and not underrate their opponents.
The trio of Benjamin, Courtney and Mehluli have played together in the Davis Cup for some time now and Zimbabwe will be banking on that when they go into the play-offs. Interestingly, it’s the siblings’ affair with the Lock brothers — Benjamin and Courtney — and Sibanda brothers — Mehluli and Ethan — making up the team.
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