17-year-old tennis star Khololwam Montsi is carrying the hopes of South Africa at the French Open Junior Tennis Championships at Roland Garros in Paris, France.
Khololwam Montsi: SA’s tennis sensation is at the French Open Juniors
The teenager has won over the hearts of many sports fans in the country after he qualified for the second round of the prestigious juniors contest, with a slamming 6-2, 6-2 victory over Frenchman Axel Garcian.
Montsi is the second black South African in history to represent our nation at the French Open Juniors. His predecessor and current coach Peter-Jon Nomdo was the first to compete in the tournament in 2000.
In an exclusive interview with The Star, Montsi revealed his inspiration to take on tennis as a career sport came from watching his brother Sipho Montsi travel to compete in international contests, the most recent being the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games that were held at the Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas.
“I would see my brother playing tennis and when he started going to other countries to play I figured if I wanted to be close to him I would have to play tennis as well,” the young Montsi said.
A short bio: What we know about the mighty Montsi
The teen was birthed in King Williams Town, Eastern Cape, by Pumla Montsi, a renowned sprinter and Xolani. Now living in Cape Town, Montsi has won seven tournaments consecutively and sits at the summit of South Africa’s youth tennis rankings.
In the world, he occupies the 13th position and hopes to climb even further up with his eyes set on the French Open.
“I was super happy. Out of all the Grand Slams, for me the French Open is the biggest and the one that I really want to win,” he said.
Khololwam Montsi: Here’s his upcoming fixture
Montsi will go against his African counterpart Eliakim Coulibaly (Ivory Coast) in the Round of 32 of the French Open Juniors, which takes place on Monday at 14:00.
Every South African tuned into the match-up will hope for a decisive win for Montsi as he continues on his quest to clinch the prestigious title and make history.
