‘ Proteas need to play cricket’ Montsi is out of French Open
THE 17- year- old South African Khololwam Montsi bombed out of the French Open Juniors after he was defeated 6- 4, 7- 6 ( 7/ 4), 6- 3 by Brit Felix Gill in a second- round clash at Roland Garros yesterday.
The unseeded 18- year- old Gill, world- ranked at 38, broke serve once in each set and seemed well on his way for a straight- sets win. However, Montsi fought back superbly late in the set and after breaking serve in the 10th game he held out to win the tiebreak 7- 4 after more than an hour and forced the match into an extra set.
Gill made light work of the third set and after 150 minutes out on the clay, he ended the challenge of the 11th seed who has a world ranking of 13, with a 6- 3 scoreline.
There was some concern in the Montsi camp going into the match because their protege had injured his groin on Monday. However, after hard work by the physios, Montsi was declared fit to play and played with a strapped right leg.
Montsi’s fitness coach Murray Ingram was courtside for the match and felt that Montsi’s lack of time on clay was a contributing factor to his demise.
“His lack of clay court preparation was a factor,” said Ingram. “European- based competitors have had several
warm- up tournaments to prepare and it showed in their performances.
“But there is still reason for us to be proud of Kholo and he showed tremendous character when he saved the second set when it looked like the match was beyond him.
“Throughout the match, he missed a couple of chances to convert breakpoints and that counted against him in the end.
“Once he learns to convert pressure and then to stay ahead when he is on top, he can be a real threat.
“He has shown real growth since he toured Australia in January. He’s much stronger, physically and mentally.”
Meanwhile Serena Williams said she has been “underpaid ( and) undervalued” as a Black woman in tennis, applauding the Black Lives Matter movement for shining a light on entrenched racism, according to comments published by British Vogue magazine.
The US star, who has won 23 Grand Slam titles and been outspoken about sexism and racism during her career, said technology had also played a key role in highlighting racial discrimination and violence.
“Now, we as Black people have a voice – and technology has been a huge part of that,” she said.