By Zim Sport Live Writer
Zimbabwe tennis star Courtney Lock and his doubles partner Niki Poonacha fell on the last hurdle to finish as runners up in the Delhi Open ATP Challenger Tennis Tournament on yesterday.
The pair who were seeded second lost in straight sets 6 – 3 6 – 4 to the unseeded Japanese duo of duo of Masamichi Imamura and Rio Noguchi in the doubles final of the US$100,000 Delhi Open DLTA Complex.
After losing the first set, the Indo-Zimbabwean pair dipped further into deep trouble as it trailed 1-4. There was a semblance of recovery when Niki and Lock won the next two games.
But that was all they could do, as the Japanese raced away to the trophy.
The champion team collected 75 ATP points and US$4,980. The runner-up team bagged 50 points and US$2,880.
To get to the final Lock and Poonacha needed to come back from a set down to beat Czech pair of Dalibo Svrcina and Marek Gengel 2 – 6 7 – 6 10 – 6 in the round of 16.
They also needed a third set tie break in the last eight to beat Japanese Kaito Uesugi and Shintaro Mochizuki 6 – 3 2 – 6 10 -5 before account for Briton Jay Clarke and Johannes Ingildsen from Denmark in straight sets 6 – 2 7 – 6 to reach the final.
It was Lock’s best performance in doubles tennis this year after finishing in the quarterfinals at Challenger Chennai last week as well as in the last 16 in three Challenger Nonthaburi events in Thailand last month.
“Thank you to my partner Niki for our first tournament together, felt at home this week with all the support, Special week having her excellency, the Zimbabwean Ambassador to India, and the delegation present at the ceremony,” Lock posted on his social media platforms.