By Anthony Moruthane.
Roland Garros, Paris, 05 June 2022 – South African wheelchair tennis star Kgothatso Montjane and her new Japanese partner, Yui Kamiji, fell just short of claiming the doubles title at Roland Garros, going down to number one seeds Diede de Groot and Aniek van Koot on Sunday.
Their contest was suspended during a match deciding tiebreak due to rain on Saturday. The scores were at 6-7, 6-1, 4-4 when the match referee called the players off court.
When play resumed on Sunday, it was tight throughout the first-to-10-point tiebreak but the Dutch top seeds were able to convert their opportunities to take it 10-8 and clinch the title, winning 7-6(5), 1-6, 10-8.
“What a tough, yet close match! I wish we finished yesterday (Saturday) because we looked like we were going to pull it off,” said Montjane.
“But regardless of the result, I’m just glad that me and Yui (Kamiji) took a chance to play together for the first time and we reached this far. I wasn’t sure if I was going to complement her game style, but we seem to be doing well together. I’m sad we didn’t win though,” added Montjane.
It was Montjane’s first ever appearance in a final at Roland Garros, and her third appearance in a Grand Slam doubles final after reaching the trophy decider at the US Open in 2019 and Wimbledon last year (where she also competed in the singles final).
The French Open singles competition earlier in the week also hadn’t quite gone Montjane’s way, with the South African world No 4 having been knocked out by De Groot in the semi-finals.