South African tennis star Kgothatso Montjane has made history at Wimbledon serving up a thrilling victory in the wheelchair women’s doubles final to claim her first-ever title at the All-England Lawn Tennis Club beating the Dutch pair of Diede de Groot and Jiske Griffoen 6- 4 6-4on Sunday 14 July 2024.
Montjane and Kamiji were silver finalists in the 2023 competition.
Montjane received a warm welcome home and credited her success. In a humble gesture, she attributed her triumph to the collective efforts of her team and the unwavering support of those around her. As stated at the Eye Wittiness News (EWN), Montjane set her sights on her next goal: capturing the elusive singles title, fuelled by the encouragement of her loved ones.
According to EWN, Montjane acknowledged the crucial role her team play in her success, saying, “Playing at this level my team is the on that motivates me. I have so many lows and they are the ones that are trying so hard to keep me motivated so that I keep my head down and keep working hard. Hence, I say I keep winning the wrong Slam but it’s still a great achievement. The plan is to win singles Slam.”
Montjane and her partner took home £28, 000 (approximately R650, 000) in prize money, a far cry from the £2.7 million awarded to the men’s and women’s single champions. Montjane highlighted the significant disparity in earnings, noting that the high costs of competing on the circuit add pressure to perform well in Grand Slams.
As stated in the Sport, Art and Culture Department article, Mr Gayton McKenzi has praised Kgothatso Montjane’s historic Wimbledon Wheelchair women’s doubles title saying,” We are so proud of you, and I hope that other young players take great inspiration from your success, both in the Wheelchair discipline and the sport as a whole.”
Wheelchair tennis is an expensive sport, with expenses including flights, accommodation, and tournament fees. As a result, professionals’ players like Montjane rely on sponsorships to succeed. Fortunately, Montjane has quite a number of high-profile backers in her corner, which as enabled her to continue representing South Africa in sport and flying the SA flag high.
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Written by: Ntokozo Khumalo
Images: Getty images
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