Top Zimbabwe tennis player Benjamin Lock got off the mark for the new season after beating Russian Ivan Denisov 6–3, 6–3 in the first round of the ITF Egypt F1 event in Cairo on Wednesday.
The top-seeded Lock, playing at his first tournament in 2022, had the worst possible start after teaming up with Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi from Ukraine to lose 6–7, 2–6 to Russian pair of Denisov and Egor Novikov in the first round of the doubles competition.
Lock and Uzhylovskyi were the top seeds.
The 28-year-old Zimbabwean has traditionally done well in Egypt especially in doubles having won four ITF titles as well as finishing runner-up three times so far in his career.
However, the same cannot be said for Lock in the singles competition where he has only reached one final, back in 2016 when he lost in straight sets to American Adam El Mihdawy.
But this time around Lock will be looking to break the duck and win his first ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour singles title in Egypt.
Lock is scheduled to meet Italian qualifier Lorenzo Favero who beat wild card Caspar Schuetze from Germany 5 – 7 6 – 4 6 – 4 in the race for a place in the quarter-finals on tomorrow.