Olympics
Exclusive: Ramphadi Hopes Wheelchair Tennis Heroics at the Paralympics Will Spark Tennis South Africa To Life
Paralympian Donald Ramphadi reflects on his historic wheelchair tennis bronze medal at the Paris Paralympic Games and calls for more support from Tennis South Africa to grow the sport.
Image Credits: Alex Davidson/Getty Images
In an exclusive interview, South Africa’s Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis bronze medallist, Donald Ramphadi reflects on the historic win in France, the state of the sport in South Africa, the challenges wheelchair tennis players face, and the lack of funds to grow the game.
Doland Ramphadi, along with his South African companion, Lucas Sithole made history at this year’s Paris Paralympic Games when they became Africa’s first-ever doubles team to win a medal on the global stage.
The duo won the bronze medal after defeating Brazilians, Leandro Pena and Ymanitu Silva 6-2 4-6, and 10-8 after a highly contested match tiebreak.
In doing so, the teammates etched themselves in the history books, and in the process made several Africans, who in the past took wheelchair tennis for granted take notice of the potential the sport has when supported and backed financially.
Long time coming
After suffering a bone disease at the age of 12, Ramphadi, who was born in Tzaneen, Limpopo started playing wheelchair tennis in 2009.
He attended Filadelfia Secondary School in Soshanguve and recalls the first time he came in contact with the sport.
“I started in 2009, I remember it was a boring day, and I just decided to try out tennis,” he told Sportsboom.com.
“Growing up I always thought it was a white sport but when I played, I was spotted and told that I had the potential. My teachers then started monitoring me and encouraged me to continue playing.”
After winning my first tournament, that’s when I decided this is something I want to do for the rest of my life.
Donald Ramphadi
Paris delight
Heading into this year’s Paralympic Games in Paris, Ramphadi was in top form, and confident after a stellar season, and a Grand Slam win in 2023.
This year alone, the 31-year-old contested the semifinals in the doubles and singles matches at the Australian and French Open. Meanwhile, last year, he won the French doubles title along with Brit Andy Lapthorne at Roland Garros.
Heading into the bronze medal clash against the Brazilians, Ramphadi revealed that the opportunity to make history fuelled them to bring their A-game.
“Heading into the match, we knew we were about to make history especially if we were positive and went there with a strong mindset,” he added.
“The Brazilians were going to be tough and pose a challenge but knowing that we were about to make history was one of the motivations behind us playing like we did.”
“In the end, it was unreal realizing what we had done for Africa as a whole. It was also a bit emotional for me, as I just missed my mother at that moment, and thought it would’ve been nice to share the moment with her because she made me the person I am today.”
The state of wheelchair tennis and lack of funds
In any other sporting code, Ramphadi and Sithole’s triumph would be described as a stepping stone in the right direction.
However, because it’s tennis, there’s uncertainty whether this win will even spark Tennis South Africa into making changes and taking Paralympians seriously.
Ramphadi has revealed to SportsBoom.com the financial challenges he’s faced and has called out Tennis South Africa to treat them equally with abled athletes.
“This is a fight we’ve been fighting behind closed doors for years – we believe we as Paralympians should be treated equally with the other Olympians,” he said
“I’m not even shy to say that we feel like Tennis South Africa isn’t treating us the same way even though we have to go out there and bring back medals.”
“To this day, I pay for my travels when going overseas, and I take from some of my prize money.”
“SASCOC (South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee) came in to help here and there, but it’s still expensive. In a year, I do 18-24 trips, and one trip can cost about R140 000.
“We’d be happy to get some help, and we urge people out there to come to the party and help us because I believe we’re doing a lot for the country and we deserve more,” he concluded.
Ramphadi will be back in action at Wheelchair Tennis Masters in the Netherlands in November before having a break and preparing for the Australian Open early in 2025.
Avuyile Sawula is a young sports journalist, broadcaster, and writer. He completed his Journalism and Media qualification at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, recently carved his way into the industry, and has developed a neck for multimedia reporting on various online platforms.
He began his career as a Junior writer and Intern at Grit Sports News, where his main reporting beats were Rugby and Cricket. He covered major sporting events such as the HSBC Cape Town 7s, HSBC 7s World Cup, the Inaugural SA20 auction, Formula E, and more.