Winning ATC Challenger alongside mother an honour: Courtney Lock

MOTHERS have always been known to be pillars of strength and support to athletes, established or upcoming.

For any athlete, it is always an honour to have your mother cheering you on from the sidelines and that is the feeling that Zimbabwe’s top tennis siblings, Benjamin and Courtney Lock felt over the weekend after winning their maiden ATP Challenge Tour as doubles.

The duo fought hard to beat Frenchmen Corentin Denolly and Arthur Gea 1-6, 6-3 (10-4) on their home soil in the final on Saturday at the 2024 Internationaux de Tennis de Blois.

The highly celebrated pair made history in France, becoming the first Zimbabwean duo to win an ATP Challenger since 2005 when Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyet lifted the Australian Open.

All this happened with their mother watching from the sidelines and for Courtney, it was an honour. It was the first time that their mother watched them play while on tour in Europe.

“It was more special to do it with our mother.
“It was her first week on tour with us in Europe, so it was very special that she was able to be with us for the win,” said Courtney.
For him, they will draw inspiration from the victory in France going forward as they prepare for the Davis Cup in just over a month’s time.

He added that they are looking forward to more victories.
“We are looking to build on this, we have tournaments lined up in Europe before the Davis Cup in Nigeria in five weeks, so we are picking up some good momentum and playing some of our best tennis.

“We are delighted with the win and it was a special day, we are looking forward to more and excited for more,” he said.
The Lock brothers started their campaign with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Anthony Genov and Bruno Pujol Navarro in the second round of the tournament.

The following day they accounted for the Indian pair of Sidhant Bathia and Divij Sharan 7-6, 6-4 in the quarter-final.
After comfortable victories, the brothers were given a run for their money in the semi finals against Italian Luca Potenza and American Tennyson Whitting. However, the Lock brothers managed to register a 6-4, 6-7 (11-9) to book their place in the final.

The duo will represent the country in the Davis Cup Group III Championships where they will compete for promotion against Benin, Namibia, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana and host Nigeria.

The tournament will be held in Abuja.

The matches will be played in a round-robin format and the top three teams will be promoted to Group II in 2025, while the bottom two teams will be relegated to Group IV. — @brandon_malvin.