Wheelchair tennis star Donald Ramphadi focusing on his mental health

Ramphadi has enjoyed great success in the past two years, having claimed the Roland Garros title in 2023 and a quad-doubles bronze medal at last year’s Paralympic Games in Paris.

Speaking to SABC Sport, he says his main focus will be selfcare as the year resumes, just to help with the much needed moment of reflection.

"Obviously, focusing on myself, it means that it will obviously better my tennis. I am here, I’m playing tennis and I’m looking forward to achieving more things because for the past two years, I’ve been achieving,” Ramphadi said.

“In 2023 I won the Roland Garros, then last year I got the medal, so I think if I can focus on myself more, there’s a whole lot of things that I can achieve this year and in the coming years."

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Despite the great achievement of winning top grand slams in the past two years, Ramphadi has endured many challenges including competing with a second hand wheelchair.

He opens up about the challenges he has faced since resuming his professional journey in 2018.

“I don’t even know where to start but yes, I’ve been through a lot and I’m still going through stuff right now. I’ve been saying this a lot, I’m even getting tired of just mentioning the fact that I don’t have a sponsor to actually to sponsor me to go out there and play,” he added.

“I’ve been using my prize money since I’ve started professionally in 2018. It’s a lot but I’ve been using one mindset.

“I want a lot of people to actually learn from me because there’s actually a lot of raw talent out there but they are giving up because they think people are not looking at them or they are not getting any sponsors or they are not getting recognised.”

The 30-year-old made history alongside his partner Lucas Sithole when they became the first Africans to win a medal in the wheelchair quad doubles at the Paralympic Games.