South African wheelchair tennis star Donald Ramphadi reached his first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open Wheelchair Championships at Melbourne Park on Wednesday.
Ramphadi and his Brazilian partner, Ymanitu Silva, upset second seeds Andy Lapthorne of the United Kingdom and American David Wagner in straight sets (7-5, 6-3) in the first round of the four-pair doubles draw to reach the final. It was sweet revenge for Ramphadi who lost to Lapthorne and Wagner in the 2022 Australian Open doubles semi-final.
Ramphadi and Silva will now compete in the championship final against top seeds Niels Vink and Sam Schroder from the Netherlands.
“I’m very excited that in my second Australian Open I have reached the semi-finals and the doubles final,” said the South African star.
“That shows a lot of improvement, and I would like to thank my team for pushing my every day to work hard and not give up.
“So I’m really grateful with the way things are right now, and hopefully I will have better results going forward.”
Ramphadi, 25, made history by becoming the first South African quad wheelchair player to reach the Australian Open doubles final since Lucas Sithole in 2016.
On Tuesday, the Limpopo-born star claimed his first Australian Open singles win, defeating Canada's Robert Shaw 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. He will face Dutch top seed Niels Vink in a rematch of the 2022 US Open, which Vink won in straight sets.
Prior to this year's tournament, Rampahdi had never advanced past the semi-finals of a grand slam, but he has been in the form of his life since last season, rising to an all-time high of No. 5 in the world rankings.
In the women’s event, South Africa's Kgothatso Montjane and her Japanese partner Manami Tanaka produced a brilliant performance, defeating Japanese pair Shiori Funamizu and Saki Takamuro in straight sets (6-2, 6-3) to advance to the doubles semi-finals.
Montjane's singles campaign was cut short after she was defeated in the first round by Dutch top-seed Diede de Groot in straight sets (6-1, 6-1) on Tuesday.