WATCH: Benjamin Lock forced to withdraw from the Playford Challenger after being hit in the head by Li Tu’s racket 

Benjamin Lock out of the Playford Challenger due to injury.

WATCH: Benjamin Lock forced to withdraw from the Playford Challenger after being hit in the head by Li Tu’s racket 

Benjamin Lock (Via NewsDay)

In the world of sports, players have to be aware of themselves to not get injured during the game or outside. There have been cases where players have gotten injured in practice sessions or elsewhere. One such incident came to light recently when tennis player Benjamin Lock was forced to withdraw from the Playford Challenger with no fault of his own.

In a practice session, Australian player Li Tu was seen playing a few shots, and while playing one shot, his racket slipped out of his hand and hit Benjamin Lock, who was seated on a bench. The players rushed to his aid. Due to this unfortunate incident, Benjamin is not fit enough to play in the tournament. His withdrawal comes as a significant setback for the player, who still has to make his mark in professional tennis.

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The Zimbabwean was all set to face his first opponent, the Playford Challenger. However, unfortunately, after the incident, he had to withdraw and was replaced by New Zealand’s Ajeet Rai. The unforeseen injury meant that Benjamin was out of the tournament without even facing his opponent.

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Benjamin Lock was all set to replicate Davis Cup success in the Challenger

Benjamin Lock is one of Zimbabwe’s professionals in Challenger and ITF events. He has a decent record of winning 10 ITF singles titles and 35 ITF doubles titles. However, the player has done well in the Davis Cup, where he has a record of 30 wins to 12 losses. The player who kept on replicating his Davis Cup momentum in this Challenger event was unfortunately hit on the head and has withdrawn from the tournament.

Benjamin Lock
Benjamin Lock (Image via: Dailynews)

The Australian Li Tu, who had hit Benjamin by mistake, easily went past his first-round opponent but soon saw himself out of the tournament when he lost against Japan’s Taro Daniel. Moreover, the match was one-sided, with Taro being able to dominate both, as the final score was 6-1, 6-2. 

This year, Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis is seeded No. 1 in the tournament, and he will be seen playing against Hong Kong’s Chak Wong. With that being said, it will be pretty interesting to see if another home-ground player can win again.

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