By Zuko Komisa
Point of View spoke to SA wheelchair tennis player Kgothatso Montjane, who is the first black South African woman to compete at Wimbledon in 2018.
Montjane spoke about her journey and love for competing in sports.
Montjane was born in Seshego, a small town outside of Polokwane, Limpopo, with a congenital condition that affected both of her hands and one foot.
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She holds 29 singles titles, including the Swiss Open and Belgian Open, where she was also successful in doubles, winning in 2015 with Great Britain’s Grand Slam winner, Jordanne Whiley.
In 2021, she made it to the Wimbledon final where she was beaten by world No. 1, the Netherlands’ Diede De Groot. The left-hander was also runner-up in the doubles final with Great Britain’s Masters world champion Lucy Shuker.
LISTEN TO THE FULL CONVERSATION HERE:
South Africa’s @KGmontjane1 will open her campaign against world no.2 Yui Kamiji when the wheelchair @Wimbledon Championships event gets underway on Thursday.
— Tennis South Africa (@TennisSA) July 6, 2022
In the quads’ event, Mzansi’s Donald Ramphadi will face world no.4 David Wager in his opening match.#WheelchairTennis pic.twitter.com/KzMzbh8dt7
On enduring pressure
“Pressure is good, it breeds motivation, I experience pressure when I have to go through my competition, and generally in life, I have learned to accept pressure. “
“I am so fortunate to be playing tennis, I feel like it is not the most followed sport in the country, and I feel like as a country we always have high expectations of sports we watch. In my own career, I have just been taking it a day at a time.”
On women’s sports not being taken seriously in SA
“If you look at it, in our country women’s sports is not being showcased as much as the men… If corporates would support women in sports this would spark an opportunity for equality to arise. As long as they don’t come on board, we will always cry about the issue of women in sports and equality. “
On losing a sponsorship ahead of participating in the Wimbledon
“It was really tough when wheelchair tennis in South Africa lost its biggest sponsorship, and as an individual, I also didn’t have a sponsor, and I kept asking myself how I was going to continue.”
“It was really tough, and when someone doesn’t really know much about this sport, I felt helpless, but I have always had the courage to share my story.”
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