Ramphadi reflects on winning Africa’s first Paralympic wheelchair tennis medal
South Africa's Donald Ramphadi aims to "restore hope" after capturing the bronze medal in the quad doubles at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games 14 Jan 2025
Donald Ramphadi describes winning Africa’s first-ever Paralympic wheelchair tennis medal – bronze in the quad doubles alongside Lucas Sithole at Paris 2024 – as the “greatest moment of my life”.
“To see the South African flag rising when we were on the podium was an unbelievable feeling,” the 31-year-old athlete said.
But after raising his hands in triumph at the legendary Roland-Garros stadium, his thoughts quickly turned to matters away from the court.
“That’s when I started to think about my late mother, and I wished she was here to celebrate my victory. The medal is dedicated to her 100 per cent because she contributed a lot.”
In fact, Ramphadi says he owes everything to his mother, who passed away when he was still at school, where his love of wheelchair tennis developed. Aged 12, he started to develop a brittle bone disease known as osteogenesis imperfecta, causing his mobility to deteriorate.
“I remember she had to leave work just so she could take care of me at home,” Ramphadi said of his mother, who encouraged him to walk with aid of a cane she collected from a local woods.
“Because at the time, I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t eat, I couldn't take myself to the toilet. That’s a lot of compromise. I will forever be grateful."
A life-changing moment
Sithole, too, found solace in wheelchair tennis after he lost both his legs and one arm in a train accident when he was 12. More than six years Ramphadi’s senior, Sithole achieved grand slam success first, winning the US Open singles title in 2013 and the Australian Open doubles crown in 2016, as well as reaching four other finals and the semi-final of Rio 2016.
Between 2022 and 2024, Ramphadi reached four Grand Slam singles semi-finals and three doubles finals, winning the French Open with Great Britain’s Andy Lapthorne in 2023 – at Roland Garros. It would prove a good omen.
On paper, it was a match made in heaven: Sithole a more defensive left-hander player; Ramphadi a “tricky” right-hander.
“The partnership was strong, not only on court but on the outside,” Ramphadi said. “We didn’t have a close relationship, but we started communicating more. When we arrived at the Paralympic Village, we started eating breakfast together and talked about what we wanted to achieve. We knew very well what was at stake – if we could end up on the podium it would change our lives.”
Writing history for South Africa
Sithole and Ramphadi were beaten in their semi-final by would-be double gold medallists Sam Schroder and Niels Vink of the Netherlands. But Ramphadi in particular was able to use previous experiences – good and bad – to the South Africans’ advantage in the bronze-medal match against Brazil’s Leandro Pena and Ymanitu Silva.
As well as winning the French Open doubles on the same court little more than 12 months earlier, Ramphadi lost to Pena just days earlier in the singles and was a former partner of Silva.
“To be honest, going into that match, even right now when I’m talking about it, I’m still having goosebumps,” Ramphadi said. “It was one hell of an important match, the most important I have played in my life, and the crowd at Roland Garros was crazy. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy but the one thing I wanted to do was write history.
“We did well in the first set [6-2], and the second set, we were leading, then they surpassed us, and took it 6-4. The third set went to a tiebreak, and for me a tiebreak is like penalties. It was nerve-racking.
Ramphadi made several mistakes in the second set, but instead of losing confidence, he was able to stay calm. The South African pair went on to win the bronze medal match 6-2, 4-6, 10-8.
“I will forever be grateful for Lucas because he was next to me all the time, tapping my shoulder to say, ‘we can do this – go, attack, play the game that you know’. That’s something that helped us to come back.
“The last two points, they made mistakes. And then I remember the umpire said ‘out!’ That’s when the crowd went crazy, that’s when I got all emotional. That’s when we hugged. That right there was a special moment. Then Lucas went down [onto the floor in his wheelchair]. That’s when I started to think about my mother.”
The story continues
Ramphadi says he has been “feeling very special” since bringing home the bronze medal, but that “not a lot has really happened”. The latter, though, is not strictly true.
“Actually, I just met the president (of South Africa) a couple of weeks ago,” he laughs. “I shook his hand, and it was an honour to get a certificate from him to tell me I’m doing well for the country. There’s a lot that we want to change, even though Para sport is doing well in South Africa.
“I get a lot of messages from people since the Paralympics to say that I’ve inspired them, and that makes me happy because I feel like that’s my purpose, to restore hope to those who don’t believe.”