Five South African players take wheelchair tennis challenge abroad

Tuesday, 08 March 2016, Johannesburg, South Africa. – South Africa’s top ranked wheelchair tennis players, Kgothatso Montjane will take part in the two-week US tournaments; Danny Mohlamonyane and Bongani Dlamini will compete in Israel; and Mariska Venter, Leon Els will battle it out in the two-week European tour this week – an opportunity made possible by the game sponsor, Airports Company South Africa.

The country’s top women ranked ace Montjane have made tremendous inroads maintaining her ITF wheelchair tennis ranking. Montjane will take part in the two ITF level 1 tournaments in the US, the Pensacola Open and Cajun Open to be staged from 9-13 March 2016 and 16-20 March 2016 respectively. The Twenty-Seven-year old clinched two doubles titles in Australia in January this year and finished as a runner-up in the Melbourne Open in the singles tournament and will be hoping to make a repeat of 2014 victory at the Cajun Open and Pensacola Open where she clinched doubles titles.

Former world no.1 junior Mariska Venter and Leon Els will start their European tour with the Biel-Bienne Tournament, an International Tennis Federation (ITF) 3 Series event in Biel-Bienne, Switzerland from 10 – 13 March 2016. The two will move on to play the Alpi Del Mare tournament, also an ITF level 3 event to be staged in Cuneo, Italy from 17-20 March 2016. Nineteen-year old Venter will go into the two tournaments with confidence after finishing in the semi-final round last month in the North West Challenge in Britain. Venter comfortably won her first three round matches to advance in Britain but lost to the experienced Katharine Kruger of Germany 6-2 6-3. Els, who has also competed abroad as much lately, will also be hoping to improve his performance.

The country’s quads no.2 and 3 Bongani Dlamini and Danny Mohlamonyane will compete in the upcoming Be’er Sheba Open 7-11 March 2016, an ITF 3 Series event in Israel before returning home for the two major international tournaments. The Airports Company South Africa Open, an ITF level 1 event to be staged in Benoni from 30 March 2016 – 3 April 2016 and followed by the Airports Company South Africa SA Open, an ITF Super Series event at Ellis Park in Johannesburg from 5 – 9 April 2016.

Participation in local and international tournaments like these is made possible by the generous sponsorships offered by Airports Company South Africa, the official sponsor of the sport.