Alwande Skhosana clinches double victory at TSA International Wheelchair Series

Africa’s highest-ranked wheelchair tennis player, Alwande Skhosana, netted back-to-back titles at the recent TSA International Wheelchair Series in Benoni.

The rankings points and prize money are vital to his hopes of adding to South Africa’s growing Grand Slam legacy in the sport.

Top seed Skhosana, from Umlazi in the south of Durban, saw off the challenge of No 2 seed Anthony Dittmar of Germany in both finals at the Gauteng East Tennis Courts in Benoni.

He was thrilled with the victories, but revealed the struggles in trying reach the Grand Slam stage where the likes of four-time major winner Kgothatso Montjane and quad tennis player Donald Ramphadi continue to fly the SA flag high.

The 25-year-old tennis star was first introduced to wheelchair tennis when he was 9, at Harding Special School in KZN. He has been consigned to crutches after a botched operation to correct bowleggedness, but only uses the wheelchair when he is playing.

His early inspirations include quads Grand Slam singles and doubles champion Lucas Sithole.

“In order for a player to qualify for a Grand Slam, they need to be in the top 15 in the world, and my highest ranking was No 20,” Skhosana said.

“Because we don’t really have a lot of tournaments on South Africa, it becomes more expensive for us to play tournaments in Europe where we actually can get enough points to improve our ranking.”

Despite being the top wheelchair tennis men’s player in Africa, the lack of financial support makes qualifying for the Slams an uphill battle for the South African ace.

“I’m actually good enough because I’ve had wins over top-10 players that are actually Grand Slam players. So it’s just a matter of getting good support to give me more opportunities so that I can make enough points to get into the Slams,” he said. Victory in the TSA International Wheelchair Series will surely help his cause.

The series, which included mens, women’s, quads, and junior categories, offered a $3 000 (about R53 000) prize purse for each tournament. Skhosana was extremely proud of his achievement.

“It was my first titles this year,” he said. “The most important thing is to collect as many points as possible to improve my rankings because my biggest goal is to play in the Grand Slams.”

The event marked the return of ITF Futures Series tournaments to South Africa for the first time since 2019.

“Having these tournaments at home gave me an advantage because I didn’t need to spend a lot of money, whereas if I have to go to Europe I have to spend so much money to play in those tournaments to accumulate the same points,” Skhosana said.

“It was really important as the top-seeded player to get all the points and improve my ranking.”

Beaten finalist Dittmar won a Futures Series event in Amiens in March, but found the South African ace a formidable opponent on home soil.

Skhosana’s goal for the rest of the year is to take part in a further nine tournaments. It is surely only a matter of time before his name is mentioned among South Africa’s Grand Slam legends.