South Africa’s Khololwam Montsi and Eliakim Coulibaly of the Ivory Coast have visions of tennis rivalling the sporting powerhouse of football in terms of its popularity – and see their on-court performances as key.
It did not quite happen for either of them at the Roland Garros Junior Championships this week as both suffered, on paper at least, surprising early round defeats, meaning the wait for a Junior Grand Slam winner from Africa goes on.
Not since 2011 when Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur triumphed on the clay of Paris has the continent of Africa toasted a Junior Grand Slam champion, while neither Montsi nor Coulibaly were born the last time an African boy topped the podium at a Grand Slam.
But their early exits have failed to dim their appetite or desire and both Montsi and Coulibaly are focused on the bigger picture, which is centred on them being pioneers and a trailblazing force for African tennis.
“It is super important for me to represent not only South Africa but the whole of Africa,” Montsi, a self-confessed rugby union fanatic and Stormers supporter, told itftennis.com.
“I have so much support coming from back home and it means a lot to me to be one of the top guys from my country. Winning and doing well is my way of giving back to them.
“Tennis is not the biggest sport for us but I want to try and get it onto the same stage as rugby union, cricket and football. I love putting that level of expectation on myself and I don’t see it as any weight on my shoulders.
“Even if I lose, I don’t get down on myself. As I say, it’s not a weight on my shoulders, just motivation. I know that people have got my back so I’m happy to lead the way.”
Coulibaly, a tall left-hander who trains at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, shares Montsi’s mindset and hopes that he and the man he calls his “African brother” can project their home continent onto the global tennis stage.
“It is really difficult to make it in Africa, to come from Africa and make it to the top is tough,” Coulibaly told itftennis.com.
“I truly want to make Africa famous, that is my goal with Kholo. We are trying to get Africa to the top and give Africa what it hasn’t had for a long time.
“Africa is not known for tennis but earlier this year two players from Africa were in the Top 20 [of the boys’ rankings] for the first time in history. I am proud of that and I really want to do this for Africa.
“My motivation, however, comes from my family: my mother and my father. My mother did not want me to play tennis at first and it was a sacrifice that she made for me to play tennis.
“My parents fought for who I am today. My father helped me and pushed me and my mother did the same. I play to make my family proud of me, I play to make Africa proud of me and I play to make the people that made me proud of me.”
The duo have both received financial assistance and backing from the ITF. Montsi was one of several promising youngsters to receive a $25,000 ITF Junior Player Grant this year, while Coulibaly has trained at the ITF/CAT High Performance Tennis Centre in Casablanca, Morocco. Both have also travelled as part of the Grand Slam Development Fund Touring Team.
It was through his association with the Casablanca training centre that Coulibaly took part in a Zoom call with two-time Grand Slam champion Mary Pierce in her role as an ITF Athlete Board Member.
Apparently Coulibaly was the only participant to ask Pierce two questions, which certainly put him on her radar as the 45-year-old now acts as a mentor to the rising star. Until their association, Coulibaly was considering taking a different tennis route.
“My plan was to go to university and then see if I could turn pro,” said Coulibaly. “I am lucky that Mary came along and that has given me the opportunity to go pro sooner and I am really happy.
“Everything is going brilliantly with Mary. She has been a player herself, played and won Grand Slams, so knows how tennis players are made. She knows and understands my feelings on court. Everything is going well and she is really helping me.”
Montsi and Coulibaly are accustomed to dealing with the hand of history and in January, as Coulibaly alluded to, the pair of them hit the headlines. For the first time, two African boys sat inside the Top 20 of the junior rankings.
Montsi, however, who stands at 5ft 5in, has lofty ambitions and within the next 12 months he would like to be rubbing shoulders with the best 500 male players on the planet. Despite those aims and his desire to prove himself in the professional ranks, an appreciation for junior tennis remains.
“I see myself competing on the ITF World Tennis Tour during the next couple of months with the aim of featuring at ATP Challenger events,” said Montsi, who won six junior titles during 2019, including a maiden Grade A triumph at Cape Town.
“I am super keen and super excited to compete there and see how far I can get. The goal for next year is to be in the Top 500. I am going to work hard for it and I can’t wait to see what happens.
“I can definitely say that the junior pathway is a big help for me and I feel it is important to take this route. For me, it has been needed. It has helped set me up and I want to keep doing more.
“I am never satisfied and always want to do better but I am very happy with my junior career so far.”
Montsi and Coulibaly have come a long way in their fledgling careers and whatever the future holds, their paths are likely to be intertwined one way or another. It would seem a reasonably safe bet also that their support for each other will continue and stand the test of time.
“We are family,” added Coulibaly. “We are brothers but just not from the same mother. We’re not blood brothers but we are brothers.
“There is no jealousy. If I have done well in a tournament, he is happy that I am doing well and the same applies the other way around. The connection between us is unreal.”