CAPE TOWN - South Africa's wheelchair tennis star Kgothatso Montjane was reduced to cannon fodder by world No 1 Diede de Groot, who won the Wimbledon ladies singles final 6-2 6-2 in less than an hour on Sunday evening at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London.
After a promising start by Montjane, there was nothing to suggest that De Groot would be an eventual straight-sets runaway winner after Montjane raced to a 2-0 lead at the top of the first set.
After winning her first service game, Montjane broke De Groot in the next, after spurning five breakpoints.
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In these two opening games, Montjane was full of firepower and took her chances well.
However, there was a massive momentum shift from the third game onwards when De Groot claimed the next six games without resistance and signed off a 6-2 first-set winner after 30 minutes.
This blistering first-set finish set the scene for the start of the second, and De Groot raced to a 3-0 lead, thanks for two service breaks.
2017: 🏆
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 11, 2021
2018: 🏆
2019: 🥈
2021: 🏆@DiedetheGreat is the ladies’ wheelchair singles champion for the third time after beating Kgothatso Montjane#WImbledon pic.twitter.com/HaZPpu3BXR
At this point, the match took a strange twist as four service breaks followed, making for a 5-2 scoreline, leaving De Groot to serve out for the match. She did so in style and signed off after 57 minutes for a third Wimbledon singles title and a fistful of 11 Grand Slam singles titles.
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It was their 16th meeting in Grand Slams, and after this championship round clash, De Groot leads the head-to-head score 16-14.
For Montjane, it was nevertheless a bitter-sweet occasion, but she created history by achieving the rare feat of reaching the singles and doubles finals at the same Grand Slam.