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Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
THERE were mixed feelings for the Lock brothers in the Temuco Challenger in Chile on Wednesday after Benjamin lost his round of 16 match while their doubles encounter was a walkover in their favour.
In the singles event, Benjamin was playing against Nicolas Mejia from Colombia where he lost the match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
Benjamin had booked his place in the last 16 after a straight sets triumph over Santiago Rodriguez Taverna. The match ended with scores of 7-6, 6-2. The defeat in the last 16 was a better performance compared to their performance at the Calgary Challenger in Canada and Champaign-Urbana Challenger in the United States of America (USA).
In the two North American tours, Benjamin crashed out in the round of 32.
In the doubles section, the siblings were supposed to face a South American pair of Thiago Augustin Tirante from Argentina and Colombia’s Nicolas Mejia before the match was a walkover in favour of the Zimbabweans.
The walkover means the Zimbabwean siblings’ quest for a doubles challenger title continues after missing out on gold in Ambato where they lost in the final. The siblings lost 7-6 , 6-3 against the Argentine pair of Santiago Rodriguez Taverna and Thiago Agustin Tirante to bring home the silver medal after an impressive tournament in Ecuador.
Challenger tours are the second highest tier of tennis competition behind the ATP Tour. Players who succeed on the ATP Challenger Tour earn sufficient ranking points to become eligible for main draw or qualifying draw entry at ATP Tour tournaments.
The tournament is being played on hard courts. – @brandon_malvin.
Londile Moyo
Online Reporter