Wheelchair tennis stars Donald Ramphadi and Kgothatso Montjane will turn their attention to the doubles competition at the Australian Open, with their title hopes staying alive despite both players being eliminated in their respective singles semi-finals at Melbourne Park on Thursday.
Ramphadi and Israeli partner Guy Sasson were handed a walkover in their quad doubles semi-final against the top-seeded Dutch pairing of Sam Schroeder and Niels Vink after their opponents withdrew from the match.
Progressing to the final, Ramphadi and Sasson will now face either the combination of British player Andy Lapthorne and American David Wagner or Australian Heath Davidson and Canada's Robert Shaw in the trophy contest.
In the quad singles division, Ramphadi was knocked out in the semi-finals after facing a tough battle against Schroeder, who earned a 6-1 6-1 win.
Competing in the women's wheelchair singles, Montjane struggled in the first set against former champion Yui Kamiji of Japan. And while she put up a fight in the second, the South African star was handed a straight-sets defeat, with her opponent securing a 6-1 6-4 victory.
Montjane will now pair up with Kamiji in the semi-finals of the doubles competition, with their match being rescheduled for Friday.
The top-seeded pairing, who are aiming to add the Australian Open title to the French Open and US Open trophies they lifted last year, will face Angelica Bernal of Colombia and Chinese partner Zhu Zhenzhen in the penultimate round.
