SA's Motjane loses nail-biting Roland Garros doubles final

It was a case of close but yet so far for South African wheelchair tennis star Kgothatso Montjane and her Japanese partner, Yui Kamiji, as they were beaten to the doubles title at Roland Garros on Sunday.

The apari lost to the number one seeds, Diede de Groot and Aniek van Koot, going down 6-7, 6-1 and 10-8.

Initially, their contest was suspended with the match in the balance at 4-4 in the third and final set on Saturday when rain halted proceedings.

When play resumed on Sunday, the match remained on tenterhooks, but the Dutch top seed were able to convert a break point opportunity to claim the third set 10-8 and with it the match. 

"What a tough yet close match! I wish we finished yesterday (Saturday) because we looked like we were going to pull it off," said Montjane.

"But regardless of the result, I'm just glad that me and Yui (Kamiji) took a chance to play together for the first time, and we reached this far. I wasn't sure if I was going to complement her game style, but we seem to be doing well together. I'm sad we didn't win though," added Montjane.

It was Montjane's first-ever appearance in a final at Roland Garros, and her third appearance in a Grand Slam doubles final after reaching the trophy decider at the US Open in 2019 and Wimbledon last year (where she also competed in the singles final).

Earlier in the week, the French Open singles competition also hadn't quite gone Montjane's way, with the South African world No 4 being knocked out by De Groot in the semi-finals.