ZIMBABWE top seed Benjamin Lock lost 2-6 and 6-7 (11) to Damien Wenger of Switzerland in the semifinal of the Rwanda Open M25 on Saturday at Ecology Tennis Club, Kigali.
Lock, who was slow off the blocks on the clay surface, lost the first set 2-6 and bounced back in the second as he matched the Swiss 23-year-old stroke for stroke.
The second set went into a tiebreaker, Wenger eventually winning it and will face American Oliver Crawford in the final on Sunday.
Lock, number 360 on the ATP rankings, played some scintillating tennis on his road to the semifinals.
30-year-old Lock first beat Guy Orly Iradakunda of Burundi, 1-6, 6-3 and 6-2.
Lock, who last month helped Zimbabwe back to the Davies Cup World Group II play-offs, then beat Michael Bassem Sobhy of Egypt, 6-4 and 6-2
Indian Arthava Sharma was then dispatched by Lock in straight sets, 6-1 and 6-2.
Lock will have another chance to stake a claim at the top prize in the second leg of the ITF Futures.
The 2023 Rwanda Open was combined by ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour “Futures” to host two legs with ATP points up for grabs.
The second leg begins at the same venue from the 11th-17th of September 2023.
