JOHANNESBURG – South African quads world number three Lucas Sithole’s bid for a Paralympic gold medal came up short after a 6-0 6-3 semi-final defeat to top seed Australian Dylan Alcott, at the Rio Wheelchair Tennis event yesterday.
Sithole will head to the bronze-medal match tomorrow (Wednesday) to take another shot at South Africa’s first wheelchair tennis medal.
The 29-year-old Sithole will face former world number one David Wagner of the US, who lost 6-3 2-6 6-3 to world number four Andy Lapthorne of Great Britain in the other semi-final.
The two-time Grand Slam Champion Sithole went into his semi-final after a gruelling two-set win over Brazil’s Ymanitu Silva the previous night.
“Dylan served really well today,” Sithole said.
“I had too many unforced errors and double faults today. He gave me a little pressure but need to work on that, regroup and refresh my mind for my match against David Wagner.”
– African News Agency