Rising South African wheelchair tennis quad player Donald Ramphadi fell at the final hurdle of the Sardinia Open in Alghero, Italy at the weekend.
Ramphadi fell to top seed Andy Lapthorne of Britain after delivering a couple of gutsy performances to reach the title decider.
The 25-year-old Ramphadi lost the opening set 2-6 but gathered his momentum to produce a challenge in the second set. But the British world No3 simply had too much class in the deciding set to record a 6-2 4-6 6-4 victory and lift the title.
‘I wanted to win the tournament like any other player, but I knew it wasn’t going to be easy at all especially going up against some of the experienced players on tour like Andy. Although I couldn’t win the title, I’m very happy I managed to get to this stage,’ said Ramphadi.
Earlier in the week, the big-serving unseeded Ramphadi who hails from Tzaneen in Limpopo had eased past fourth seed and world No15 James Shaw from Britain in a captivating two-set quarter-final and upset second seed and world No4 Sugeno Koji of Japan in straight sets, 6-4 6-1 in the last four.
Ramphadi says he had a good week and already looks forward to next week’s French Riviera Open, an ITF level 2 tournament to be staged in Biot-Sophia-Antipolis, France, a tournament that starts Tuesday and ends on Saturday.
‘This week was definitely a highlight of my career, I played some great tennis here and these great performances have boosted my confidence big time ahead of France.
Ramphadi and partner two-time grand slam champion Lucas Sithole were denied the doubles crown by British top seeds Lapthorne and Antony Cotteril who had a thrilling 6-4 2-6 10-5 victory in the quad’s doubles final.
PHOTO: Ramphadi in Sardinia action, by Angelo Meloni