It was a day of mixed emotions for Kgothatso Montjane at the Australian Open as she reached the doubles final but saw her chances of reaching her first Grand Slam singles final end at Melbourne Park yesterday.
Japanese world No 2 Yui Kamiji ruined any chance of a final spot for SA’s leading women’s ace Montjane, as she claimed a dramatic 6-1 5-7 6-0 victory to reach the singles final.
Montjane battled until the bitter end as her 26-year-old Japanese opponent needed 1hr:47 min to finally put away the world No 6.
After falling 1-6 in the first set, the 34-year-old South African had to claw her way back from 2-4 in the second set before clinching the set 7-5.
In the third set Kamiji broke the powerful Montjane serve three times and hung onto her serve to win.
But the doubles provided a silver lining as Montjane joined her British partner Lucy Shuker to defeat Angelica Bernal of Colombia and Chilean Macarena Cabriliana 6-1 6-4 in 71 minutes to reach her second Grand Slam doubles final.
The SA-British pair will next face Dutch top seeds Aniek van Koot and Diede de Groot in the title decider today.
Consolation for SA ace as she reaches doubles final
Montjane fails bid for singles final
Image: Reg Caldecott
It was a day of mixed emotions for Kgothatso Montjane at the Australian Open as she reached the doubles final but saw her chances of reaching her first Grand Slam singles final end at Melbourne Park yesterday.
Japanese world No 2 Yui Kamiji ruined any chance of a final spot for SA’s leading women’s ace Montjane, as she claimed a dramatic 6-1 5-7 6-0 victory to reach the singles final.
Montjane battled until the bitter end as her 26-year-old Japanese opponent needed 1hr:47 min to finally put away the world No 6.
After falling 1-6 in the first set, the 34-year-old South African had to claw her way back from 2-4 in the second set before clinching the set 7-5.
In the third set Kamiji broke the powerful Montjane serve three times and hung onto her serve to win.
But the doubles provided a silver lining as Montjane joined her British partner Lucy Shuker to defeat Angelica Bernal of Colombia and Chilean Macarena Cabriliana 6-1 6-4 in 71 minutes to reach her second Grand Slam doubles final.
The SA-British pair will next face Dutch top seeds Aniek van Koot and Diede de Groot in the title decider today.
Montjane wants to go a step further at Australian Open
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