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Grace Chingoma-Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Davis Cup tennis team have been dealt a huge body blow following the injury of their number two player Mehluli Sibanda who has since been replaced with Courtney Lock in the World Group II play-off tie against Uruguay that gets underway this morning at Harare Sports Club.
Sibanda has been struggling with a shoulder and hamstring injury but managed to train with the rest of the team this week.
And Courtney Lock will be first player on the court when he plays against Uruguay’s number one Martin Cuevas in the first singles match this morning.
The match is set to start at 11am.
Zimbabwe’s top player Benjamin Lock will then take on Uruguay’s number two Ignacio Carou in the second singles match.
Tomorrow in the crucial doubles match the Lock brothers, Benjamin and Courtney, will team-up against the Uruguayan pair of Cuevas and Ariel Behar.
The doubles match will soon be followed by the reverse singles in which Benjamin Lock will first lock horns with Cuevas before Courtney Lock takes on Carou.
The visitors are seeded first in this Group but Courtney Lock says they are unfazed by their underdog tag.
“We are excited to get it started obviously one of our good players, Mehluli, got injured this week but I am excited to get it started and we definitely feel good playing at home and I think it will be a good chance to get up early.
“We are the underdogs coming in but I think we like that. They have got the pressure and I think they know that, they know the challenge ahead so we will go up there, play free and enjoy the crowd support,” said Courtney Lock.
The Zimbabwe Davis Cup team captain Takanyi Garanganga said they are in the right frame to play some good tennis.
“I think the draw actually plays in our favour. I think Courtney is eager to play, he will be playing the doubles again as well the next day. So it’s good for him to get used to the conditions on the first day because he has been used to playing doubles only on the second day. So it is just a good thing he gets used to the court, the environment, the energy and the emotions that comes with playing matches. So I am excited about that.” The last time the Zimbabwe Davis Cup team played at home, they lost to El Salvador last year and were relegated to the Africa Group III.
But Garanganga believes they are a different team from the one that lost at home to El Salvador in March last year.
The Zimbabwean team managed to get their promotion back into the World Group II play-offs in August, in Algeria when they beat Namibia.
“We were actually pretty close and it’s a redeemed team and this is what we are going to do,” Garanganga said. He said it is sad to lose one of their players, Sibanda, through injury. “Mehluli is a talented player. He has struggled a little bit with some injuries here and there. We will be looking forward to what we have, to play tomorrow (today),” said Garanganga.
Benjamin Lock says they are confident of winning this weekend’s tie.
The Lock brothers had an impressive season last year in the ATP Challenger Tour and have been playing some tournaments leading up to this week’s Davis Cup tie.
“We are hoping the ideal situation would be 2-0 going into the doubles, that will put a lot of pressure on our opponents but Courtney and I have been playing for a long time together and had a good run for the past six months and we have put in a lot of work with Takanyi and his assistant Gwinyai (Tongoona) this week, so we are feeling confident.
“So yah, I think we are very excited to keep things going for the weekend,” Benjamin Lock said.
Yesterday’s draw was also attended by former Tennis Zimbabwe president Martin Lock and his deputy president Tanya Chinhamo. Albert Nhamoyebonde, the association’s honorary life vice-president, was also in attendance as well as current president Biggie Magarira.
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