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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
SECOND seed Benjamin Lock put up an impressive performance yesterday to upset fellow Zimbabwean and top seed Takanyi Garanganga in the final of the Old Mutual International Tennis Federation World Tennis Tour M15, popularly known as the Futures at Harare Sports Club.

Lock overpowered Garanganga 6-4, 6-0 in straight sets in one hour nine minutes as he had a good day on the court, taking important points and a consistent serve throughout the match.

The first set was a close one that lasted 44 minutes before Lock took his game to another level

While Garanganga had some outstanding moments in the first set, it wasn’t his day as he struggled to find his rhythm that saw him winning the singles title in the first week of the same tournament.

Lock, who bowed out in the quarter-finals in the first week, completed a memorable second week as he also won the doubles title on Saturday with his younger brother Courtney to take their tally to 10.

And Benjamin Lock was satisfied with his overall performance in yesterday’s singles final against Garanganga.

“Today in the singles I came out with no pressure. I just wanted to play well and enjoy the game. I have been struggling to find my form and today I turned it on and I found it very quickly so it was such a pleasure for me to play the way I did.

“Obviously I know Takanyi didn’t play his best tennis today, partially because I changed it up and I didn’t allow him to play his game. But I know he still didn’t play his best, so that’s unfortunate for him but he had a great two weeks. He was the winner in the first week in the final and he hadn’t dropped a set until today,” said Benjamin                                              Lock.

After a disappointing first week, Benjamin Lock said they had to go an extra mile with their coach Freeman Nyamunokora ahead of the second tournament and it paid off. He also paid tribute to his family for their support including his 99-year-old grandmother, who attended all their matches.

“Obviously the first week was a huge disappointment for me. I had been playing some really good tennis and I was expecting to play well here and I think I put too much pressure on myself and I didn’t perform                                                                                    well.

“I was very disappointed after the first week, I let my brother down in the doubles, I didn’t play as well as I normally did and we took some early loses.

“Today I played well, but yesterday (on Saturday) in the doubles final it was unbelievable, we played absolutely incredible and Courtney played the best tennis I have ever seen him play. It was a big breakthrough win for us as it was our 10th (professional) title together as a team. So that was a huge moment,” said Benjamin Lock.

Garanganga admitted it was not his best day yesterday but remains focused as he looks forward to other upcoming tournaments in Europe.

“Not the best day on the court but that comes and goes, this happens to other players, I am not immune to that, so (you) just keep your head up and move on to the next one.

“Probably I will go to Europe and play some tournaments in the next two months, so that’s what I am looking forward to,” said Garanganga.

After losing in the doubles semi-finals in the first week, Courtney Lock said they came back stronger for the second one that ended yesterday.

“It was a great tournament we were a little bit disappointed from the first week obviously. We always have high hopes coming here and we really worked hard for the week and it paid off this week, we really found our form . . . We just played better and better as the tournament went on and it was very nice to finish off with our best match in the final,” said Courtney. The tournament was the second of two events that had been running since June 17.