World number-seven KG Montjane will be hunting for her second successive Airports Company South Africa Gauteng Open title after disposing of Great Britain’s Jordanne Whiley in straight sets in the semi-final of the Grade I NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour event, at the Gauteng East Tennis Centre in Benoni on Saturday 7 April, 2013.
The defending champion will go head-to-head with top seed Jiske Griffioen from the Netherlands in the Women’s Singles final on Sunday.
Montjane won the first set 6-2 and overcame a mid-set stumble losing three games in a row before taking the second set 6-3.
The defending champion said she expected more from fifth-seed Jordanne Whiley, who pulled off the first significant upset of the week when she beat fellow Brit and second seed Lucy Shuker in Friday’s quarter-final.
“I watched that match, so I was looking forward to a tough match because I haven’t really been tested this week,” said SA number one said. “I think she probably used everything she had against Shuker, because she wasn’t playing to the same standard.
“I would have enjoyed a tougher challenge ahead of the final, and I actually started rushing in the second set just to finish the match. I ended up losing three games in a row; so it was a pretty stupid move on my part but I managed to pull it back and win.”
Montjane said she is relishing the final clash against Griffioen. “I’ve been watching Jiske this week and she is in great form. I’m really looking forward to the match, because we haven’t played each other in a long time. It should be a nice battle.”
Although Griffioen struggled with her first serve and had a smattering of double faults, she kept good control of her semi-final against fourth-seed Katharina Kruger from Germany with strong ground strokes to win 6-2 6-1.
“I had a low first serve percentage and made a few double faults, and if I want to beat KG, I will have to improve on my serve,” Griffioen said. “It’s great to be in the final, though, and I look forward to a great match.”
In the Quads Single semi-finals, Canadian Sarah Hunter put up a strong challenge in the second set but just couldn’t get past world number one David Wagner, who won the match 6-2 6-4.
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