Source: AD

Diede de Groot has made history in New York. The Dutch wheelchair tennis player accomplished a so called Golden Grand Slam by being the best at the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, the Paralympic Games and now also the US Open in the same year.

She defeated her Japanese rival Yui Kamiji in the final 6-3, 6-2. Yesterday, De Groot also won the women’s doubles title at the US Open together with Aniek van Koot. For the fourth year in a row De Groot is the strongest at the US Open. More than a week ago, De Groot, the number 1 in the world, also took the Paralympic title in Tokyo at the expense of her Asian rival. “I can’t wait to go home and celebrate with family and friends, who took the time to watch all the matches in the middle of the night. What am I most looking forward to? Doing nothing at all. It has been such a tough trip, also because of the pressure i experienced, being the number one and on the verge of accomplishing a golden slam. But I did not let the pressure get to me,” said De Groot. ,,Immediately after the last point there was relief, and a bit later came the joy. I wanted this so badly. I’m looking forward to enjoying the rest of the season a little more and playing with a little less pressure.” De Groot is the first tennisplayer to win a Golden Grand Slam since Steffi Graf in 1988. The German won Olympic gold in Seoul and won all grand slam tournaments that year, like De Groot.

For De Groot, the win in New York is her twelfth grand singles slam title in total. She also took the doubles title in New York yesterday with Aniek van Koot. 

Novak Djokovic (34) can surpass Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer tonight by winning his 21st Grand Slam. After Don Budge (in 1938) and Rod Laver (in 1962 and 1969), the Serb could become the third male tennis player to win all four Grand Slams in a calendar year. In the women’s league, Maureen Connolly (in 1953), Margaret Court (in 1980) and Steffi Graff (in 1988) managed to capture all four Grand Slams in a calendar year. The latter also won gold at the Olympic Games that year. In doubles, there were fourteen players who won a Golden Slam.

Source: nu.nl At the Paralympics in Tokyo wheelchair tennis players Diede de Groot and Aniek van Koot won a gold medal on Saturday in the doubles final. In the men’s singles there was silver for Sam Schröder and Tom Egberink.

De Groot previously won a gold medal in singles at the Paralympic Games. In the doubles final, together with Van Koot, she was much too strong for the British duo Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley: 6-0 and 6-1.

The Tokyo match lasted just over an hour. Whiley kept Van Koot away from the bronze in the singles on Friday.

The Netherlands is dominant in women’s doubles at the Paralympic Games, as in singles. Since womens doubles tennis became a part of the Paralympic games in 1992, the Dutch won every edition.

At the games in Rio de Janeiro Games five years ago Jiske Griffioen and Van Koot were to strong for De Groot and Marjolein Buis in a completely Dutch final.

Source: nu.nl Diede de Groot keeps an eye on a historic Golden Slam. The 24-year-old wheelchair tennis player won the singles gold medal at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo on Friday, her first title at the Paralympics. Late on the Japanese evening, in the singles final, the first-seeded De Groot dealt with  the second-ranked home player Yui Kamij i: 6-3 and 7-6 (1).

At the Ariake Tennis Park The Japanese player made it very difficult for the top favourite. De Groot took a 3-1 and 5-3 lead in the second set, but Kamiji didn’t give up. The second seeded eliminated six match points, but the Dutch still finished it in the tiebreak.

Five years ago, De Groot finished fourth in singles at the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. Since then she has been almost unbeatable. She has won eleven Grand Slam singles titles and is the number one ranked player in the world.

The female player from Utrecht was already the best at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon earlier this year. If she also wins the US Open next week in New York, she will achieve the first Golden Slam in wheelchair tennis: winning all Grand Slam tournaments in singles  and winning gold at the Games in one year.

With her Paralympic title, De Groot follows in the footsteps of Monique van den Bosch (1992), Maaike Smit (1996), Esther Vergeer (2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012) and Jiske Griffioen (2016). Until now, the gold in the women’s singles has always been won by a Dutch paralympic athlete.