South African top women’s player Kgothatso Montjane added another international doubles title to her portfolio after clinching the women’s doubles final with partner Louise Hunt of Britain in Melbourne on Thursday.
The Melbourne Open, an International Tennis Federation (ITF) level 2 tournament which finished on Thursday saw best-mates Montjane and Hunt put in a solid performance to saw off Chinese duo of Hui Min Huang and Zhenzhen Zhu in straight sets 6-4 6-2.
The win marked the pair’s first doubles title as a team this season and it was also the season’s second title for the world no.8 Montjane, who joined forces last week with world no.8 Sabine Ellerbrock of Germany to secure the Super Series event, Apia Sydney wheelchair tennis Open doubles title.
It was the seventh seed Montjane who caused the first major upset of the tournament when she dispatched world no.2 Yui Kamiji in the quarterfinal and reached the finals without dropping a set. An exhausted Montjane came up short in the finals. The third seed Buis of the Netherlands defeated the 29-year-old in straight sets 6-3 6-3 to claim the title.
“It has been a great few weeks for me in Australia. To win the super series doubles title was a great achievement. Then to back it up and win the Melbourne Open was just great, I feel like I am really playing a solid game,” said Montjane. “This is more of a confidence booster and achieving good results before such a big tournament is very important. I feel prepared for the Australian Open Grand Slam,” added Montjane.
In the quads division, the country’s world no.3 Lucas Sithole produced a virtuoso display of attacking tennis but lost to his nemesis fourth seed Andy Lapthorne of Britain. Lapthorne ended Sithole’s hope in a three-setter 7-5 0-6 7-5 to claim the title in Melbourne.
Sithole and his doubles partner Heath Davidson went down in the doubles final to Brit’s pair Andy Lapthorne and Antony Cotterill. The duo saw off Sithole and Davidson in straight sets 6-0 6-2.
The South Africans now awaits the Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open which starts next week from 27–30 January in Melbourne.
Photo 1 caption: South African top women’s player Kgothatso Montjane added another international doubles title to her portfolio, clinching a second women’s doubles final in two weeks, this time with partner Louise Hunt of Britain, in Melbourne on Thursday. The 29-year-old also finished in the second place in the singles tournament, after losing the women final against third-seed Marjolein Buis of the Netherlands at the Melbourne Open, an International Tennis Federation (ITF) level 2 event. Photo: Tennis Australia
With editing by gsport
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