‘I Call It​​​​​​​ A Hustle'

The first black South African woman to compete at Wimbledon, wheelchair tennis player Kgothatso Montjane is a fighter, both on and off the court.

- Gypseenia Lion

FROM THE GLAMOROUS GRASS courts of Wimbledon back to the practical clay courts of Pretoria.When we meet her, South Africa’s highest-ranked women’s wheelchair tennis player Kgothatso Montjane is on the phone catching up on all the action she has missed out on during her time away overseas.

Ranked sixth in women’s world wheelchair tennis, Montjane is at Pretoria Boys High, a school in the South African capital where she trains, and is lamenting the state of her hair, and how busy she has been since returning from the United Kingdom (UK).

“I have been in and out of interviews,” she says, “I did not even have time to do my hair.” Montjane is wearing a cap, a grey sweater and green shorts.

She has a quick conversation with her coach Gerald Stoffberg, and effortlessly removes her prosthetic leg, replacing it with another before donning her gear and sliding into her wheelchair for the practice session.

Only two weeks ago, she had been battling at Wimbledon, playing the match of her life, losing her chance to win a Grand Slam, but winning over the hearts of countless South Africans. Even South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had tweeted about her.

She didn’t make it past the semifinals, but for Montjane, it was a significant milestone.

“It was my first time playing on grass and I didn’t know what to expect. The fact that I didn’t know how the grass felt was the scariest thing about being at Wimbledon. But it was quite an exciting experience. It was a historic moment for me,” she says.

Historic for the country too, as she was the first South African black woman to compete at the prestigious tournament.

Her debut on the grass courts, she says, makes her hopeful about the future of black women in sport.