South Africa’s Kgothatso Montjane was unable to overcome the challenge presented by China’s Ziying Wang, losing her Australian Open women’s wheelchair singles quarter-final 6-4, 6-2 on Court 7 at Melbourne Park on Thursday.
Montjane was honest in her assessment of her performance after the match.
“It was a tough one. I did the best I could with what I had. I just couldn’t show up better physically. I just don’t think I played my best at all.”
Impacted by hay fever
Kgothatso Montjane was impacted by hay fever which started on Wednesday night.
“I struggled to sleep last night. I didn’t sleep well at all. So, my recovery was not as good as I would have liked. I was blocked up overnight.
“This morning, I had a runny nose and an itchy throat. This is Australia. There was a lot of pollen in the air. Such a bummer.”
Kgothatso Montjane admitted that her opponent was simply too good.
“I had a tough opponent today. She was very solid. She really showed up and she played well. Credit to her.”
Lost in the doubles semi-final
Meanwhile, things didn’t get any better for Kgothatso Montjane in her doubles semi-final alongside Japan’s Manami Tanaka when they went down 6-2, 6-3 against the No 1-seeded Chinese pairing of Xiaohui Li and Ziying Wang.
Dave Marshall is reporting exclusively from the 2026 Australian Open in Melbourne for The South African.
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