For a second year in a row South Africa’s two-time Grand Slam champion Lucas Sithole will contest the quad singles final after battling past Britain’s Antony Cotterill in the semi-final round on Friday in France.
The current world No 6, who lost to American world No1 David Wagner 12 months ago, also in Sophia-Antipolis, Sithole will contest only his second singles final of 2018 on Saturday after beating world No20 Cotterill in three straight sets, 6-4 4-6 6-4.
With Cotterill having also bowed out at the semi-final stage of last year’s ITF Two Series event in three sets against Wagner, his narrow loss to top seed Sithole this year means that the South African will now attempt to earn his first title since the 2017 Johannesburg Open when he goes up against Sam Schroder from the Netherlands.
However, with two losses to former world No 6 Schroder since July, including the quarter-finals of last week’s Sardinia Open, Sithole can expect a tough final.
Dutchman Schroder denied Donald Ramphadi a place in his second singles final and also thwarted any prospect of an all-South African final when he beat the giant-killer Ramphadi in the other semifinal.
The two took tennis to extraordinary new levels at times before Schroder prevailed 6-4 4-6 6-1 in an enthralling semi-final.
While there will be no all-South African quad singles final, Ramphadi and Sithole did team up to win their first quad doubles title as a team.
Runners-up at the Sardinia Open, Ramphadi and Sithole beat Schroder and Shraga Weinberg 7-5 6-0 to wrap up Friday’s decider.
PHOTO: Sithole in action, by Reg Caldecott