Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema-Zimpapers Sports Hub
TOP Zimbabwe player Courtney Lock is in a race against time to be fit again and try to help hosts Zimbabwe breathe life into the stuttering Davis Cup tennis campaign at Harare Sports Club.
Zimbabwe were surprise 0-3 losers at the hands of lowly Senegal in their opening assignment on Tuesday, with Lock picking up a strain during his straight sets 6-1, 6-4 defeat by Senegal’s Andre Seydina.
He resultantly missed his team’s training yesterday on a day when the hosts had a rest day.
Zimbabwe are due back in action today. But the identity of their opponents will only be known in the morning given the complex nature in which matches are being arranged in this five-nation Africa Group III play-off.
The competition include Algeria, Namibia, Senegal, Nigeria and Zimbabwe and is being played in a round robin format.
The top three teams at the end of the week-long tournament will get promoted to next year’s World Group II, while the bottom teams get relegated to the Africa Group IV.
However, according to the rules and format, match day draws are only revealed after each day’s action and are the sole responsibility of the tournament’s referee Khaled El Sergany.
As they look to know the identity of their next opponents, Zimbabwe coach Gwinyai Tongoona has big decisions to make.
This is due to Lock’s injury, which also forced a last-minute change for Zimbabwe as the hosts’ top seed Mehluli Sibanda was then partnered with his younger brother Ethan in the doubles in which they lost 6-3, 6-4 to West African pair of Seydina and Nicolas Jadoun.
Lock was also absent as Tongoona took the rest of Team Zimbabwe- Ronan Mtisi and the Sibanda brothers — through their paces during yesterday’s training.
“Yes, Courtney (Lock) missed training as he is seeing the physiotherapist and trying to rest and heal,” said Tongoona.
“The inflammation has gone down and he was feeling a little better today (yesterday). We will just have to continue to monitor him, see how he is feeling and then make the decision,” he said. Courtney’s injury couldn’t have come at a worse time as Zimbabwe already went into the tournament without their top singles player and his elder brother Benjamin Lock, who is still sidelined by an elbow injury.
Zimbabwe then went on to lose their opening match to Senegal (3-0), a fact compounded by Courtney’s injury and ring rust from a returning Mehluli Sibanda.
“I think performance wise, it was not bad and results-wise it was not good,” said Tongoona.
“We are now going to try and build on that and spend the day working on where we went wrong.
“I am not too worried about the results though.
“I think the last couple of times we played Group Three, we lost the first match and then bounced back.
“We improved our weaknesses and we managed to get promoted back up.
“So now, we have to do it again,” he said. “We don’t expect any easy match,” he said.
“We knew coming into this tournament that it was going to be a round robin format and that it was going to be tough.
“The fortunate thing is that these players know each other from playing on the circuit and we have been keeping an eye on everyone and watching every possible match.
“We will make the necessary tweaks and adjustments once we know our opponents,” he said.
Tongoona was, however, pleased with the effort and attitude displayed by his charges during yesterday’s training session.
Everyone appears to be ready to go.
“It was good. We just worked on a few things that we picked up from the defeat. We also worked on a few things with Ronan in case he has to play. I am very satisfied with what I have seen today and I think they are all ready.
“We were all disappointed after the Senegal defeat, especially the guys who played.
“They really want to put it behind them and come back and perform better. On the pressure to bring results.
He added: “It comes with the territory. “There is always pressure and, obviously, we want to get a win, it’s part of the game.
“When you play Davis Cup tennis, there is always pressure to fly the country’s flag high.
“We are looking forward to returning to the court and playing some good tennis,” he said.
