Johannesburg – As the SA Spring Open gets underway at the Ellis Park Tennis Stadium, South Africa’s wheelchair tennis player Khothatso Montjane will defy all odds stacked against her to defend her title.
Montjane is rated as South Africa’s highest-ranked women’s wheelchair tennis player to ever make history to reach a Wimbledon final.
The 35-year-old has risen to superstardom and she sets her eyes on the upcoming matches.
Following her stunning move to the finals at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, she went to represent the country at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
However, she faced turmoil as she couldn’t walk away with a medal.
Trouble further loomed at the US Open in New York, where she suffered a first-round defeat.
With disappointing results at stake, Montjane says all these results became a learning curve for her, and she is optimistic to maintain her status at the upcoming tournament.
“Unfortunately, it’s the nature the sport, things don’t always go as planned and the most important thing is to be able to move on and start over,” Montjane said during Tennis South Africa briefing session.
“I have a lot of points on stake to defend, so it’s of importance that I would like to defend them,” she adds.
Montjane will form part of the wheelchair tennis contest scheduled to take place from Wednesday, 22 September 2021.
Tennis South Africa (TSA) announced the return of the SA Spring Open, after last year’s campaign was scrapped off due to Covid-19.
TSA says this year’s event will be held under strict Covid-19 protocols with no spectators.
The SA Spring Open has attracted an impressive entry with over 200 participants from 27 countries and a strong South African representation across all events.
The tournament will run until 26 September 2021 at Ellis Park Tennis Stadium.
The tournament consists of men’s and women’s singles draw for the second installment.
SA Spring Open seeds:
MEN
1 KRAVCHUK, Konstantin (RUS)
2 LOCK, Benjamin (ZIM)
3 PELIWO, Filip (CAN)
4 PERVOLARAKIS, Michail (GRE)
5 NOGUCHI, Rio (JPN)
6 ALVES, Mateus (JPN)
7 OCHI, Makoto (JPN)
8 MARCONDES, Igor (BRA)
WOMEN
1 GRAMMATIKOPOULOU, Valentini (GRE)
2 ANDRIANJAFITRIMO, Tessah (FRA)
3 MURAMATSU, Chihiro (JPN)
4 HOGENKAMP, Richel (NED)
5 ANSHBA, Amina (RUS)
6 LAMENS, Suzan (NED)
7 SUN, Lulu (SUI)
8 ZUGER, Joanne (SUI)
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