BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE ZIMBABWE tennis player Courtney Lock has revealed how doctors told him that his playing career was likey over after he underwent three hip surgeries about a year and a half ago.
Lock went on to spend over a year on the side-lines but he is now back competing on the professional circuit where he has won three double titles in the past two months playing alongside his brother Benjamin.
The 25-year-old tennis star had difficulty coping with the threat of an abrupt end to his fledging career.
He reflects on the difficult journey back to the tennis court after three surgeries.
“Just recently I had three hip surgeries. No-one wants to go through a surgery or a bad injury and end up having surgery, but at the end of the day this is an athlete’s life,” said Lock in wide-ranging chat with another professional tennis player Conny Perrin for ITFtennis.com
“About a year and a half ago, I was told by four or five surgeons that I should just get used to life outside of tennis. I remember watching tennis, watching my brother’s matches and thinking… ‘this is crazy, how is my career gone at 25 years old’?
“I managed to work really hard, got another surgery, and we found a way and now I am back playing and I am so grateful. I think these are moments in our lives where it teaches us so much. I always knew I loved tennis, but in those moments where I couldn’t play and do something that I love, you really appreciate how much you love the sport.
“Now if I lose a match, I am disappointed, but at the back of my mind I’m so grateful to be here,” he added.
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A little over a week ago Courtney and his elder brother Benjamin Lock won a third title in exactly two months when they scooped the second ITF M15 tournament in Algeria’s port city Oran.
Two weeks earlier, the duo had celebrated another doubles title after beating the pair of brothers, Australians Jason and Adam Taylor at the ITF Italy F2 tournament.
The first tournament win for Courtney Lock after he recovered from injury at the beginning of the year came on March 27 in Medellin Colombia when they bagged their first doubles title together in two years.
Lock also spoke about invaluable lessons leant on the ITF circuit.
“Tennis teaches us so many life lessons. Being able to deal with disappointment, being able to deal with adversity going forward [are important life skills]. If I was the boss of a company and I saw someone who had played 10 years on the professional tennis tour, I would hire that person in an instant,” he said.
The Zimbabwean tennis player also spoke about how he left home at 12 to go to South Africa where he was able to develop his talent at an ITF Development Centre in Africa.
“It was huge and to be quite honest I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for that. My brother is a product of the ITF Development Centres as well and I still keep in touch with all the coaches.
“I came from a tennis family [Lock’s father Martin also played Davis Cup], but coming from a place like Zimbabwe you get to a certain point where there are only 10, 12, 15 players playing the tournaments and there’s no way to further your career.
“To pay for a flight every couple of months to Europe is impossible, so I was so grateful to the ITF for that. It was a huge benefit and I think there has been multiple stories like mine that have come out of the centres.”
Courtney Lock is a member of the ITF World Tennis Tour Player Panel, which was created in 2020 to give players more of a say on how the Tour is run.
