She played her part in the first-ever wheelchair tennis match to take place on Court 1 at Wimbledon in 2021 and was the first black South African woman to play at the Championships when she made her debut there in 2019. It’s fair to say Kgothatso ‘KG’ Montjane is no stranger to making history on the tennis court. 

It may surprise you then to learn that Montjane, arguably one of South Africa’s most successful athletes, “never thought someday that [she] would be a tennis player.” 

“That was never my dream,” she said. “But here I am today, and I am glad I gave it a try when people said to me all those years ago you can play, because today I’m not only playing tennis but I’m learning so much about the world. 

“You know, coming from those rural or village areas you don’t really think out of the box to be honest, you just don’t know what exists out there because you don’t have the resources to see the outside world, so tennis really took me out of there and I’m really appreciative of the opportunities I’ve been given.” 

Describing herself as a product of the ITF and Cruyff Foundation, a partnership that this year is celebrating 20 years of working together to bring tennis to, and support the sport and players in, areas where there is not a lot of access to it, Montjane has vivid memories of the first time she was given the opportunity to pick up a racket when the project came to South Africa. 

“It was a great, great start for me because I am not a grassroots crafted player,” she explained. “And I remember that after I picked up that racket at the age of 19, I was literally offered the opportunity to participate in one of the Cruyff Foundation development camps in Holland the very same year. 

“I think everyone was impressed with how I was playing, and I was invited back to the very same programme the next year and it started to become interesting for me that I could actually go out to these countries and play against other people, and I started to really feel a passion for wheelchair tennis and what it could offer.” 

The start of her tennis journey wasn’t all plain sailing though. As an athlete who develops her craft even to this day through watching others, the left-hander smiled as she reminisced about attempting to serve right-handed and also trying a double-handed backhand in those early days because it was what she had seen others do. Until she had access to the level of coaching support and experiences she needed to develop her game, “nobody had told me it wasn’t right.” 

But as Montjane gained more experience and was exposed to wheelchair tennis more through the support she was given by the ITF and Cruyff Foundation, she found her game and a role model in one of the legends of the sport, Esther Vergeer. 

“When I first saw her play, I didn’t even know she was the world No. 1,” Montjane said, laughing. “I was still in the early days of learning about the sport then. 

“But I remember watching her and thinking, she’s flawless, I want to be as good as her. She really made me fall in love with the sport and encouraged me to get better. I really do look up to Esther. 

“Then next thing, a bit later on from that first time watching her of course, I found myself in Beijing with a wildcard at the Paralympics and playing in the same draw as Esther, and I’m like, what is this?  

“And I remember watching the final against Korie [Homan] and once again I was just like, I want to be like them, and that’s when I made the decision that at the next Paralympics I would qualify on ranking, not as a wild card.” 

Fast forward to present day and those early experiences and support have certainly led to a very accomplished career and life in the sport. Having qualified for four Paralympic Games and now a regular feature on the entry lists for the Grand Slam tournaments, including Wimbledon in 2021 where she reached both the singles and doubles finals, Montjane shows no sign of slowing down. 

It was at that 2021 edition of the Championships where she experienced one of the most memorable moments in her career, being part of the first wheelchair singles match to be played on Court 1 – the final between herself and world No. 1 Diede de Groot. 

She eventually finished with runners-up honours in that particular head-to-head, but for Montjane the overall winner on that day was the exposure that not just wheelchair tennis, but also women’s sport, had been given and how that could lead to inspiring the next generation of athletes. 

“You can just imagine how many people it reached,” Montjane said. “Being part of history like that you know I always talk about giving hope to people back in Africa, and well you can imagine how huge that was for Africa and women specifically. 

“That was the first wheelchair tennis match ever to be played on such a big court at Wimbledon then, and this year we saw a few men’s and quad matches on there too and they show a lot of diversity. 

“I want to see a lot more of that in the future because I think wheelchair tennis deserves a bigger and better place in the world.” 

The passion you see from Montjane when she speaks of the history-defining moments she has been part of extends beyond the baseline too. 

And whilst her future performance goals include winning her first Grand Slam title and trying to claim that No. 1 spot in the rankings, off the court she would love to be involved in developing future talent and spreading her message of “bringing hope” to people back in Africa by using her platform as a player. 

“That’s where my passion lies,” Montjane said. “Development. Development and supporting a talented player’s development is the most important part of any sport; my story shows that.  

“I feel like where I’ve come from, I can identify with that, because I know how tough it is to do what I’ve done when you come from my little part of the world.” 

While players like herself, fellow South Africans Donald Ramphadi and Lucas Sithole who play in the quad division on the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour, and indeed 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, have through their achievements increased awareness of tennis is Africa, the world No. 5 believes more can still be done. 

She said, “The disadvantage for tennis in Africa is I don’t think it’s really counted as one of the popular sports, that’s why it’s still on the back foot a bit. 

“Players like me, we sort of bring it into the spotlight and pave the way for the next generation. I just hope the programmes [that] we had the opportunities through keep running, because they have so much impact. 

“I feel like the ITF and Cruyff Foundation should take pride in what they have done and can do together. Introducing all of these projects into Africa, I’m not sure if they ever thought they would create a high-ranked elite level player, they just wanted to and were passionate about introducing wheelchair tennis into Africa. 

“If a player like me, coming from where I’ve come from and coming out of the ITF and Cruyff Foundation programmes, can reach the levels and high ranking that I’m at, you can imagine if they start them small where those players could go. 

“Because if you’re given the resources and you’re exposed to tennis the way I was, you can succeed and grow as an individual.” 

The ITF-Cruyff Foundation partnership 

The Cruyff Foundation was founded in 1997 by the late Johan Cruyff. The legendary Dutch football player established it to provide social sports projects for children with special needs, working both in the Netherlands and internationally. 

The Cruyff Foundation began supporting the ITF’s wheelchair tennis development activities in 2002 and became programme partner of the ITF’s junior wheelchair tennis programme in 2004. Over the past 20 years, hundreds of men, women and children have taken part in its camps and clinics in more than 60 countries, experiencing wheelchair tennis for the first time and in many cases being inspired and encouraged to play more. 

Many of wheelchair tennis’s elite players are a product of the ITF/Cruyff Foundation junior and development programmes, including current world No. 1s Diede de Groot, and Niels Vink, as well as Montjane, Alfie Hewett, Angelica Bernal, Martin de la Puente and Aniek van Koot. 

This interview first appeared in the summer 2022 edition of ITFWorld. To view the latest edition of the ITF's premium magazine, click here.