Lindsay Lock rallies her tennis stars

Sport
“I always love watching them and they have such synergy when they play together, so as a mother they make me very proud. Even more just to see the brothers working together is what I love the most,” Lindsay Lock said of her two sons Benjamin Lock (25) and Courtney Lock (21), Zimbabwe professional tennis players.

“I always love watching them and they have such synergy when they play together, so as a mother they make me very proud. Even more just to see the brothers working together is what I love the most,” Lindsay Lock said of her two sons Benjamin Lock (25) and Courtney Lock (21), Zimbabwe professional tennis players.

By Munyaradzi Madzokere

The two teamed up to win three doubles titles in three consecutive weeks this month.

Benjamin and Courtney already have an overall five doubles titles playing together dating back to 2016, but their recent accolades were the first since Courtney turned professional a couple of months ago.

The older of the two brothers, Benjamin, who turned pro in 2016, already has four single titles and a whopping 16 professional crowns on the ITF circuit.

Their mum, Lindsay, has always been in the background of their sons’ tennis success and she does not miss their matches when they play at home.

And when The Sports Hub caught up with her at Harare Sports Club last Saturday, she had just watched Benjamin lose in the final of the Zimbabwe F3 futures tournament.

The previous day her boys had bagged their third trophy of the month.

“When they win we always go home to celebrate. They love a braai and salad. We sit on the verandah, that’s our favourite place; we all sit together with all the animals too and have a great day. These three weeks have been good for the boys. Even last night we had a nice fillet salad and that’s what they love the most,” the 56-year-old dental hygienist said.

What made Lindsay more proud is the fact that she had an opportunity to watch her sons play together for the first time, both as professionals before they left the country to chase their dreams on their pro circuit together.

“Corts (Courtney) couldn’t wait to join Benjy on the tour, it’s been his dream. He’s worked hard at university and did extremely well there. Now he is happy he has got his Finance degree, but his passion is in tennis.

“They are going to play doubles together on tour, but there will come a stage when Benjy will branch off to play challengers because now his ranking has put him into challenger level. But Benjy is very protective over Corts that he wants to get his ranking to a level where he can also play at the challengers. I think one day they want to play in a Grand slam together, that’s the dream,” Lindsay said.

While she wishes her sons well on the profession circuit, Lindsay, like a typical mother, has other worries.

“I know their dream is big. It’s very important to me how their character develops. You have to be very tough in tennis. you got to take a lot of losses. I know they are focused and I want them to fulfil their dreams. The most important thing I have always said to them is, ‘you play tennis because of the love for the game’. And also to be passionate always,” he said.

Lindsay and her husband Martin Lock, who is the Tennis Zimbabwe president, have four children, two daughters and two sons, who all play tennis.

They built a tennis court in the back yard known as the “court of dreams” and coached their own children from the very beginning.

The girls, Stacey and Emma, played tennis for Zimbabwe and Stacey represented the country in the Fed Cup. Now based in South Africa, they did not pursue tennis as career options.

“We had a tennis court at the back and we called it the ‘Court of Dreams’. I told them you can always dream big, keep it (up) there because it’s a goal, it’s a vision and it will attract you. They had this dream of playing on the world stage in a Grand Slam and coaching them I instilled in them discipline and never to give up,” Martin Lock said.

“I think they have reached the stage where they have done all the hard work. Now they dedicate themselves to what they want to do, that is to try and excel on the pro tour. For me as a father, I look on and see that they are living their dream,” he added.

Benjamin and Courtney were playing in Portugal this week and are also set to take their doubles tag team to Italy, China and Georgia in the next few weeks.

And Lindsay’s silent prayer is that one day she will have a braai with her family to celebrate her sons’ Grand Slam triumph.