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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
THE International Tennis Federation Old Mutual Futures Series first round matches took off yesterday with mixed fortunes for Zimbabwean players at Harare Sports Club.
Zimbabwe’s top player in this tournament, Benjamin Lock had a good start with his doubles partner Nathaniel Lammons from United States when they beat South Africa’s Michael Copeland and Franco Feitt of Argentina 7-6(1), 6-4 to proceed to the quarter-finals.
The top seeds were given a good run by the unseeded pair of Copeland and Feitt in a match that was closely contested. The first set had to be decided by a tie break and could have gone either way.
Lock conceded it was a tricky first round match and they had to give it their all to emerge winners. “It’s a tricky match, you always want to play your best at home, so there is that extra kind of pressure. But it’s a good pressure and our opponents played well in the first set. They served really good, fast conditions here, so it’s tough to get a break.
“But I thought my partner and I played pretty well and stayed composed throughout the match. So it was a good first round, it was a tough match and it’s always better to earn it than to win it simply,” said Lock.
The United States-based player seeded second for the singles has a date against South Africa’s Timothy Dollman today.
Lammons had earlier on beaten Munashe Chingono 6-2, 6-0 in the singles.
“This is the first time me and Benji have played, so it’s always nice to get a close competitive match out of the way. Benji and I both have had some success in the past, so we look forward to doing well and I am glad we had a nice tough battle today to get us ready for the rest of the tournament,” said Lammons.
It was also a good day for Zimbabwe’s Mark Fynn and his South African partner Nicolaas Scholtz seeded second as they dismissed Sheil Kotecha of Kenya and Siphosothando Montsi from South Africa 6-1, 6-4.
Fynn returns to the court today when he takes on fifth seed Jonathan Kanar in the singles.
The Sibanda brothers — Mehluli and Muzi — lost to Matias Franco Descotte from Argentina and France’s Jonathan Kanar 3-6, 1-6. Mehluli will, however, take on fourth seed Thales Turini in the singles today while Tadiwa Chinamo lost 5-7, 3-6 to Thomas Setodji of France yesterday.
The tournament is the first of the three events lined up until July 2.
Online Reporter