Zimbabwe’s top ranked tennis player Benjamin Lock continued his good run of form after clinching the doubles title at Open d’Ajaccio on the ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour in Ajaccio, France on Sunday.
Lock and his Australian playing partner Blake Ellis had to dig deep to bounce back from a set down to clinch a hard-fought victory in the final against the French pair of Yanis Durand and Loann Massard in at the Mezzavia Tennis Club in Col du Stiletto, Ajaccio.
The duo won the match 3–6, 6–4, [10–5] after a super tie break.
Lock and Ellis got off to a slow start as the French pair, who won the first set 6-3 in less than half an hour.
Undoubtedly more experienced, Benjamin Lock and Ellis Blake then foughg back, winning a very hard-fought second set 6-4.
This meant the match would be decided in a super tie-break.
Despite claiming the first break to take an early 3-1 lead, the French pair were unable to resist the assaults of their opponents, notably Ellis, who was decisive on several occasions as they clinched the tie break 10-5.
Benjamin’s victory came barely a fortnight after he partnered his brother Courtney to win the doubles event of the Intertionaux de Tennis de Bois in France, becoming the first Zimbabwean pair to claim an ATP title since Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett clinched the US Open in 2005.
The Harare-born siblings defeated Frenchmen Corentin Denolly and Arthur Gea 1-6, 6-3, 10-6 to seal the ATP Challenger tournament in southwestern France, recording a feat last achieved nearly two decades ago by the legendary duo of Black and Ullyett.