Kgothatso Montjane continues to walk the path

Montjane, who made history in 2019 as the first black South African woman to qualify for Wimbledon, met Kamiji while she was travelling and attending matches. But the pair didn’t team up until 2022. “We’ve always been together. At one point we just decided to try doubles and see how it goes,” she says. “I think so far it’s been good because we’re winning. This is our third Grand Slam together. We’ll see if we team up in the future, but we really enjoy working together and what we can both achieve.”

Last year she told the International Tennis Federation that it was not easy to decide to play together, adding that she enjoyed it nonetheless. “(We) are getting the results we always wanted. We play better on clay because the surface is not as fast, but today we approached the match with the mentality we had for the US Open final. We did not get the chance to play that final, but we brought the same attitude,” she had said.

Born and raised in Limpopo, South Africa, Montjane faced numerous challenges due to a congenital bilateral disability. Despite this, her parents raised her to believe she could achieve anything. “When you’re born with a disability, some parents think their children have no future. I feel like my parents tried to raise me like any other child,” she says, reflecting on their support.

Montjane has previously spoken about how people stared at her when she was young. “I’ve come to understand why they stared at me, just because I was differently abled. It was a pretty tough childhood growing up with a disability.”

Montjane’s introduction to sports began at her boarding school for the disabled, where she started playing for fun. In her final year, she discovered wheelchair tennis. “I never played sports to make it my profession. It was just an accident that I played tennis. They said I should try tennis because it had been introduced in the country,” she explains.

She continued playing while studying for a bachelor’s degree in recreation and leisure, and was asked to compete in wheelchair tennis after graduation. She was accepted into the program and went on tour in 2011.

“I didn’t know what tennis was. It was quite difficult, I found it hard to push and move with the racket and hit the ball. As time went by, I found the challenge interesting and became curious about the sport. I decided to stay. When I started, I didn’t know anything about Grand Slams, Super Series. For me, every tournament looked the same. When I qualified for Grand Slams, I found it really fascinating.”

She continues: “I just played because they told me to play. I don’t want to lie to you, I didn’t know what I was doing. I just thought I was going to a match. This wasn’t a structured career path for me. In the beginning I just played; I wouldn’t say there were challenges or anything. The people who ran the sport had everything planned out. All I had to do was just go out there and play tennis.”

In less than a month, Montjane will wear the colours of South Africa at the Paralympics in Paris. She is one of the country’s most decorated athletes, having competed in the event three times before — 2008, 2012, 2016.

Montjane says it’s hard to give an overview of her routine. “I train a lot between November and December. I do a lot of strength training. It’s hard to really train all year round, because you’re playing matches. In between, I always try to play tennis. But the real training is in those two months at the end of the year, because you have to get your body ready to last the rest of the year.”

Montjane, who is currently number nine on ITF Global Singles Ranking and No. 1 in the doubles rankings, is looking forward to the Paralympics. While he acknowledges that “there will only be one winner” and that “you will never win every tournament,” Montjane remains hopeful, saying, “I just hope I can be on the podium.”