Even in the twilight of her career at the age of 37, South African wheelchair tennis supremo and two-time doubles Grand Slam champion Kgothatso “KG” Montjane says winning the singles Grand Slam will determine her retirement.
Montjane is dubbed one of the greatest South African tennis players to ever grace the court.
The Polokwane ace defied the odds of growing up in the dusty streets of Seshego and decades later, went to the global stage to lift the prestigious Rolland-Garros and the US Open majors – becoming the first South African woman to win a French Open title since 1981.
She won both majors with Japanese teammate Yui Kamiji (29) and achieved that feat in a space of three months.
In a wide-ranging interview on Tuesday, Montjane took Sunday World down memory lane, reminiscing about her challenges, including her career-threatening injury prior to her reaching three Grand Slam finals before clinching two of them.
“I am still working hard to really get my hands on that singles Grand Slam,” Montjane said.
“But winning those two doubles Grand Slams with Yui is just a motivation for me to keep on pushing because sometimes along the years I encountered a lot of challenges and one of them was the career-threatening injury [tendinitis elbow injury and slow recovery] last year [in 2021].
On the state of sport for women in South Africa, Montjane said women needed to continue speaking up to influence change, referencing the recent Banyana Banyana debacle against Safa.
“Support for women sport in our country will never be enough, but I think it’s heading towards the right direction.”
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