Staff Reporter.
South Africa’s wheelchair tennis sensations, Kgothatso Montjane and Donald Ramphadi, triumphed in the doubles semifinals at Roland Garros, securing their places in the prestigious finals to be held on Saturday in Paris.
Montjane, the women’s world No 8 and the 2022 Roland Garros finalist, rebounded from a tough loss in the women’s singles quarterfinals earlier this week.
Partnered with her Japanese teammate Yui Kamiji, Montjane displayed exceptional skill and teamwork in the semifinal match against Pauline Deroulede and Emmanuel Morch from France.
The top-seeded duo delivered a commanding performance, overpowering their opponents with a resounding 6-1, 6-2 victory.
In the women’s doubles final, Montjane and Kamiji will face the unseeded duo of Diede de Groot from the Netherlands and Maria Florencia Moreno from Argentina, promising an exhilarating showdown for the prestigious women’s doubles title.
Joining the ranks of South African success, Donald Ramphadi and his British partner, Andy Lapthorne, caused an upset in the quad doubles semifinals, defeating the Dutch top seeds Sam Schroder and Niels Vink with a thrilling 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 victory.
This remarkable achievement comes as sweet revenge for Ramphadi, who was knocked out by Schroder in the first round of the quad singles event.
The 29-year-old Ramphadi, who reached his career-high ranking of No 4 globally this week, has advanced to his first Roland Garros final after only his second year participating in the clay court Grand Slam.
“I am definitely happy with the win with my doubles partner, Andy Lapthorne. This is the first time we played doubles together, and it was a little bit shaky in the beginning as it was the first time playing together, and we made mistakes. But getting used to how we play made us win,” said Ramphadi.
“We are looking forward to tomorrow; it’s going to be a tough one, and it will be a great birthday present if I win tomorrow.”
Ramphadi and Lapthorne’s victory sets the stage for an enthralling quad doubles final, where they will face the second-seeded pair of Heath Davidson and Robert Shaw on Saturday.
The match featuring Ramphadi and Lapthorne is scheduled to commence at 11:00 on Saturday on court No 13, followed by Montjane and Kamiji’s match on the same court.