All KG’S hard work is starting to pay off

With sponsorship in the bag, tennis player is gearing up to be champ

KGOTHATSO Montjane has just finished a gruelling session at Pretoria Boys High School. She is sweating and looks exhausted.

South Africa’s wheelchair tennis superstar spends every day like this – three hours on the court, sometimes more than once a day.

Watching her, coach Gerald Stoffberg smiles proudly. “There is no doubt that KG can be the best in the world. I don’t think she even realises just how good she can be. There’s simply no limit to what she can achieve.”

Stoffberg has been coaching and mentoring Montjane for just over three years and believes the Limpopo-born wheelchair tennis player has everything in her locker to be a world champion.

“As her coach, I can never tell KG how much she must want this. Great champions find something from within. She has all the physical gifts that one could have, actually more than most people, but the question is, does she want it enough?”

Montjane, South Africa’s highest-ranked female wheelchair tennis player who is ranked sixth in the world, doesn’t hide from the burning question.

Laughing gently at his comments, the 32-year-old says she has it in her to make it all the way to the top.

“I want this more than ever,” says Montjane. “When I moved up to Pretoria, I was number 10 in the world, and I was sort of a broken soul. Things were really tough and I kind of lost a lot of confidence.

“When I teamed up with Gerald, we had to go back to the drawing board to see how he could help me grow as a player. And over the last three years, we have worked hard to build my confidence again, on and off the tennis court. Right now, I think I can go on to achieve anything I put my mind to.”

For the past few years, Montjane has travelled the world playing in some of the biggest wheelchair tennis tournaments. Most recently she became the first South African black female to compete at Wimbledon in the UK, going all the way to the semi-final before eventually getting knocked out by the world’s number one Diede de Groot of the Netherlands.

She has won more than two dozen times on the international circuit. However, Montjane has never had success at a grand slam tournament.

But while Montjane has given her best on court, the one thing that has held her back from playing to her full potential has been the lack of sponsorship.

After Airports South Africa pulled out of its sponsorship with Wheelchair Tennis South Africa a few years ago, Montjane and the rest of SA’S wheelchair tennis players have taken a huge knock.

“Any professional athlete will tell you that without sponsorship, things are really tough. Each time I play, I go into tournaments with an immense amount of pressure to do well. If I don’t make it to semifinals or finals, I might not get a lot of points, and if I don’t get a lot of points, then my career suffers plenty.”

This week it was announced that the tennis star would receive sponsorship worth R1,5 million from various local sponsors for the next year. The financial boost followed after Montjane’s incredible performance at Wimbledon.

The funds, raised by Montjane with support from Optimize Agency, will go towards covering her flights, accommodation, entry fees, ground transport and meals for the remainder of 2018 and 2019.

Her sponsorship has come at the perfect time, just days before she is set to compete at the US Open Grand Slam tournament, which kicks off in two weeks.

Montjane believes that the financial boost will help her achieve her dream of being the number one female wheelchair tennis player in the world.

“It will make a huge difference simply because I think it will take a lot of worries off my shoulders. It will help me focus more on what I do on court than thinking what’s going to happen next.”

She feels it’s a pity that South Africans weren’t aware of wheelchair athletes years ago. “Maybe it’s about time that South Africans knows this sport exists in this country. It had to take a historic moment at Wimbledon for everyone to take notice of us, which I’m really thrilled about, but it’s way overdue that we are recognised.”

Montjane reveals how she often thought of quitting. “There’s been so many moments where I felt like I can’t do this anymore, and I was ready to give it all up. But, because I love tennis so much, I dragged myself out of bed every morning and headed for practice.”

Stoffberg is delighted that Montjane has received the financial backing she deserves. “Creating players that compete against best players in the world is very much a long-term process. You don’t solve problems or climb the ladder in a month or two, so what we’re hoping is that people will come on board and assist KG in the long term.”

Right now, I think I can go on to achieve anything I put my mind to