Zimbabwe Davis Cup team led by captain Martin Dzuwa and duo debutants Courtney Lock and Tanya Chinhamo are ready square-off with Moldova in Euro/Africa Zone Group II tennis play off at the Harare Sports Club this weekend.
Zimbabwe will clash with Moldova from the 17th to 19th of July in a play-off encounter where will be relegated to unfashionable Davis Cup Group III.
Zimbabwe’s number one Takanyi Garanganga will play the Moldovan’s number two while Benjamin Lock plays against the visitors’ top player on the first day and the doubles are scheduled for the next day.
Debutant Courtney Lock who is likely to feature in the doubles the second day of the tournament was excited by his first appearance in the Davis Cup team.
“It’s an honour to play for my country, this is a big event especially being in Euro/Africa Group II playing these countries one on one ties, it’s really a big deal and I am excited to be part of the team,” said young Lock.
Courtney was in top form a fortnight ago when he partnered his older brother Benjamin to the doubles finals a professional tournament ,the Zimbabwe F3 ITF Futures contest at Harare Sports Club, where he showcased his ability as credible allay at the highest level.
Meanwhile the Moldova Davis Cup team arrived in the country on Wednesday evening and conducted their first training session at the match venue the next day.
Non-playing captain Lurie Gorban leads the team that also includes Dmitry Baskov (20) ranked 2,030 in the world as their number one player as well as Maxim Bulat (18), Adrei Soltoianu and Egor Matvievici (18) who does not have a world ranking yet.
“Our strategy coming into this game is to give the best that we can. My team is still growing up, they are getting better. We are trying to build a strong team for the future so they have to learn and I hope that after some years they will be much better but we need to start now,” said Gorban.
The winner of the tournament will progress to the next phase of Euro/Africa Zone Group II and the losers will fall into Group III.
Davis Cup Team
- Martin Dzuwa (Captain)
- Takanyi Garanganga
- Benjamin Lock
- Mark Fyn
- Courtney Lock
- Tanya Chinhamo
